Date: Thu, 13 Jan 94 12:50:54 EST
From: Louie Crew
Subject: FYI, a copy of Voice of Integrity, Summer 93
This is an electronic reproduction of The Voice of Integrity, the
quarterly publication of Integrity, Inc., the lesbian and gay justice
ministry of the Episcopal Church. All materials except those
reproduced from other sources are copyrighted by Integrity, Inc. You
may reproduce all original material herein if you state "Reproduced
from the Summer, 1993 issue of The Voice of Integrity, the quarterly
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Episcopal Church."
Material may not appear exactly as published since some changes
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**********
Summer 1993
*The Voice of Integrity*
Volume 3, Number 3
Published by Integrity, Inc.
P.O. Box 19561
Washington, D.C. 20036-0561
Telephone 718-720-3054
Bruce Garner, President
Edgar Kim Byham, Publisher
R. Scott Helsel, Editor
Contributing Editors:
Claudia Windal, Louie Crew, Paul Wooodrum
Blair McFadden, Layout
Dorothy Gunn, Production
Editorial Office: 201-868-2485
PO Box 5202; NYC, NY 10185
Member Episcopal Communicators
Associate Member Gay & Lesbian Press Association
Copyright 1993
********************
*TABLE OF CONTENTS*
*March on Washington*
Pilgrim Lutibelle's Report
An Abiding Place
Religious Leaders Support March
Journey Folk
All Things New
The Wedding
Celebrating Life
EURRR's Cannons Flaming Again
Former Integrity Chaplain Elected First Female Diocesan
Judge Dismisses $4 Million Lawsuit in Virginia
I Was in Prison and You Came to Me
*Book Reviews*
Nothing New: "New Millennium, New Church"
New Prayers For Old Occasions:
"Daring to Speak Love's Name"
Chapter Updates
Disciples' Candidate Supportive
Claudia's Column
Joshua's Baptism Pushes the Boundaries of the Family of God
*Lesgays in the Military*
The Beat Goes On
A Retired Chaplain on Gays in the Military
The Presiding Bishop Supports an End to the Military Ban
UCC Leader Testifies for End of Military Ban
PB Writes to Armed Forces Chaplains
An Exchange of Pleasantries
East Tennessee Symposium to Explore Search for
Structural Reform of the Episcopal Church
Much Fuss Down Under:
First "Openly" Gay Ordinand in Australian Church Quits
Topeka Parish Gay Bashed
Commission on AIDS/HIV Surveying Church's Ministries
EURRR Opposes Minnesota Bishop-Elect
New Dallas Bishop Says He's Open, We'll See
Suffragan Bishop-Elect in Virginia Accused of Sexual Misconduct
A Not Very Pastoral Letter
British Bishop Admits Charges, Resigns
Homophobia Doesn't Just Hurt Gay People - Part II:
Straight Integrity Member Fired for Supporting Equality
Bishop Plummer Charged With Sexual Misconduct:
The Church and the Media React
God's Vulnerability in Our Sexual Choices
Songs for One of Our Unsung Heroes,
Helping Ohio Sing a New Song
Should Integrity Change How it Addresses the Clergy?
Integrity Plays A Major role in Colorado
Losing 1997 General Convention
Lesbian Prof Dismissed by General Seminary
President's Column
Should We Support the ESA?
********************
*EPISCOPAL COMMUNICATORS*
This Publication Honored by Episcopal Communicators
At its annual convention, held in New Orleans June 9-12, 1993, "The
Voice of Integrity" received Polly Bond Awards and honorable
mention recognition for several articles in 1992. Integrity's entries
compete in the Magazine division, Agency Level, a group which
includes "The Witness" and "The Living Church."
Reader Response: Award of Excellence
"Comments on the Bishops' 'Issues in Human Sexuality'"
.LM 16
Authors: Louie Crew, Guy R. Foster, John M.
Gessell, Larkette Lein, David Lochman, Virginia
Ramey Mollenkott, Peter C. Moore, Tim Vivian,
David White
.LM 11
Summer 1992 issue
Headline: Award of Merit
"Art Imitates Episcopal Life"
Author: Kim Byham
Fall 1992 issue
Editorial: Honorable Mention
"PB Hopelessly Heterosexist"
Author: L. Paul Woodrum
Fall 1992 issue
News Story: Honorable Mention
"`France's Troy Perry' Murdered, Police
Implicated"
Author: Kim Byham
Spring 1992 issue
Theological Reflection: Honorable Mention
"Some Instructive Parallels"
Author: Warner Traynham
Winter 1992 issue
Devotional/Inspirational: Honorable Mention
"Kicking, Screaming, Limping: Being the Church
in the World"
Author: Louie Crew
Spring 1992 issue
********************
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********************
*MARCH ON WASHINGTON*
Pilgrim Lutibelle's Report
by Louie Crew
We were early enough Friday evening to park in
St. Thomas's small lot, since David Allen White, our
host, needed to arrive to multiply the loaves and fishes.
Ernest and I walked to Dupont Circle, where I had
come so many weekends, 1962-65, for long meditations
and droolings that led me to flee to England and
embrace my identity. I always remember Dupont Circle
as at least four times larger than it actually is, rather the
way I remember neighborhood gullies that I learned to
jump when 8 or 9. "I feel like I'm back in Hong Kong,"
Ernest said, responding to the thickness of the crowd. It
swelled even more as we walked up Mass. Ave., towards
Lambda Rising and the March Office. Police limited
the crowds allowed in Lambda Rising, and 5 or 6
separate lines of people, each a block long, waited to
enter the book store. What revolution has ever been
this much about the right to read!?
A small crowd had already gathered outside St.
Thomas's when we returned. A much larger crowd had
grown inside. I gave up waiting in line to sign the guest
book, lest I not get a seat in the service. Ushers brought
in more and more chairs. The small Washington
chapter wore itself to a frazzle feasting and libating all
the pilgrims afterwards.
At 10:30 on Saturday morning we rushed by cab
to Mt. St. Alban. Ernest explored the Cathedral of St.
Peter and St. Paul for his first time. I slipped into the
small chapel in the Bishops House, where four of us
kept simultaneous vigil with similar small groups in
cathedrals all over the United States protesting with
prayers the consecration of Bishop Iker occurring at the
same time in Fort Worth. Every chapel window
depicted female Christians from all times. As part of
my own meditation, I reMEMBERed every woman who
had shaped me in my childhood, writing down long lists
of names to make them members of me again, including
my blood family, my surrogate black family, my
teachers, the women in the neighborhood, Dorothy
Potter whom I played dolls with, Emily Cater whom I
played "naked" with, until her mother, Irene, came like
God into the garden, and we covered ourselves with
draperies as we stood in the bay windows, and I was
spanked severely and forbidden to go to the puppet
show....
"Justice, Justice, Shalt Thou Pursue" was the
theme of the Interfaith Service at the Church of the
Epiphany on Saturday afternoon at 3 o'clock. Several
hundred pilgrims packed in to hear Rabbi Sharon
Kleinbaum and Episcopal priest Ted Karpf preach
poignantly to this theme. [See Father Karpf's sermon
on page 7.] Ted subtly reversed the Sodom story to
address the question of our numbers.
No one at this service -- designed months ago by
all the lesbigay religious groups in our capital for all
MOW pilgrims -- was able to attend a competing
service, beginning at 4, long before this service was
over, at the National Cathedral. Contrary to all its
public announcements, the service at the National
Cathedral was explicitly gay. The dean of the cathedral
did greet the crowd with specific reference to lesbigay
pilgrims.
By all accounts of those there, the service was
absolutely splendid and in the best traditions we all
expect of our national cathedral. But why did the
National Cathedral organize and publicize an event in
direct competition with an ecumenical service of all
lesbigay religious groups? Why did it make not one bit
of effort to contact any of those religious groups to
invite them to attend? Why did it get specific about its
gay connection only when the audience arrived?
On Sunday, I had been standing with Integrity in
the thick crowd on the mall near the Washington
monument for about four hours waiting for a space to
clear for our group to enter the narrow stream of
marchers going down Pennsylvania Avenue. The
crowds were so large that at our position we could see
no movement until long after the first marchers had
reached the end of Pennsylvania Avenue and re-entered
the mall at the other end.
I was weary. My legs were swelling. I decided to
risk lying down. While there was space enough, I was
not sure that anyone moving about would see me, nor
that I could get back up, given where Mr. K. Knee Stone
had kicked me in the back. I lay there for half an hour
or so, vaguely listening to the loud speakers of the
performers and speakers on the platform two of three
blocks away. The march, I realized, was not about
getting somewhere, but about presence, about being
there, about being present together.
We marched but followed no one. In fact, we
might just as well not have "marched," given the
difficulty of movement, but might more expeditiously
have just sat on the mall all day long. We had arrived
en mass in our Capital. Any other movement was mere
choreography.
Celebrities dropped in and out occasionally, but
never controlled us. No one completely rapt the
throngs. (T-shirts might dispute that claim!)
Jesse Jackson preached at one point, and some
of us responded to his litany, "Keep hope alive" and "I'm
somebody." I was glad that he was there, glad that he
and other national leaders were not deaf to the pain
and suffering of those whom our institutions defined as
the least of these their sisters and brothers; but for
much of even Jackson's speech, my attention rambled,
as did that of many others present.
Earlier Phil Donohue got more response to his
litany, "Get over it!" How ironic that a talk show host
has won major moral authority in our time, but why
should I be surprised: the House of Bishop has
dialogued itself into irrelevance; Churches can't even
decide whether to be churches; arts consumers can't
even decide whether the massive death of artists should
even be noticed. Why should I be surprised if God uses
the very stones to cry out?
At one point I fetched Bishop Otis Charles
(formerly Bishop of Utah, now Dean of Episcopal
Divinity School) from the EDS/Harvard Divinity
contingent and brought him like a prize to the Integrity
area. Predictably, his episcopal shirt set up a murmur of
"Who's that bishop?" and some eased over to meet him.
For a brief moment when we did begin to move,
Bishop Jane Dixon appeared, almost like an apparition,
shook about 10 sets of palms, and disappeared. Mainly
we pilgrims seemed a leaderless crowd, and that seemed
good. So many hundreds of thousands of persons
together, with folks vying to lead us, or merely to get
our attention. It seemed to me we did quite well
without a leader. Perhaps someone needed to be on a
platform to feed the media, but for the most part,
people about me seemed to feed on our massive
presence itself, in all our glorious diversity.
Several Episcopal Bishops showed up the 1963
March on Washington. Only two showed up for our
much larger march in 1993. That's part of the problem!
Thank God for Bishop Jane and for Bishop Otis
Charles! I wish Bishop Ron could have been there with
his gay son, whom he affirms, but Mary, his wife, is still
trying to get the young man "regenerated" as straight.
Pray for them.
For me, the main moment of the weekend was a
personal one. While I lay on the grass I realized that
my spouse had sat down next to me. I was on my back
with my eyes closed, my knees elevated to improve
circulation. He rested himself by leaning on my right
leg, for a very long time. I began to be uncomfortable
with the pressure of his weight, and realized I was
crying, but I struggled to give no indication whatever of
my discomfort, lest he stop resting on my knee, because
I realized for for the first time in two decades of
married life we were in a space where such simple
public affection called no attention to itself, in a space
where no one needed to monitor or take note of our
simply touching, and quite beyond the discomfort, I
wanted the joy of this simple touch to last forever and to
be available to everyone in the whole wide world.
********************
*AN ABIDING PLACE*
A Sermon by the Rt. Rev. Jane Holmes Dixon,
Suffragan Bishop of Washington, at the
Integrity/Washington Eucharist, April 23, 1993
It is a privilege for me to be here with you this
night. When Michael Hopkins called me some months
ago and invited me to be the celebrant at this Eucharist,
I had to do what we do when we think about what is the
thing we should do.
I'm in a new position, as you well know, with all
my fine garb. Statements that I make and places that I
go and pictures that are taken are seen in a different
way, and there's a part of that that I hate. I hate it that I
had to think about whether I would come here tonight.
I have celebrated for Integrity before, in this very nave,
and I thought, what a state to which I have been
elevated!
But I work for a wonderful man -- a man whom I
admire more than I can ever tell you, or I would never
have let my name be put forward last year when we
elected a suffragan. And I went into him and I said,
"Bishop, do you have any problems with my going to
celebrate for Integrity the weekend of the Great
March?" He said, "It's a celebration for Integrity, isn't
it?" I said, "Yes." He said, "Do you celebrate there?" I
said, "Yes." He said, "Then, what's the question?" I
want you to know that, because there are times that he
and I will make you angry and you will feel left out.
Whatever you think about me, I want you to think the
best of him because he's a brave and courageous man.
I also was a little stunned when I read the lessons
that are appointed for human dignity and rights that had
been chosen for tonight's lessons. When I saw that
when Michael sent me the service of liturgy, I thought,
well, we're really going to get into justice big-time
tonight! And there was that astonishing letter where
John begins with "God is love" and then in Matthew's
gospel where those two commandments on which all the
law and the prophets rest, and there are only two that
our Lord, Jesus Christ says, that we love God and that
we love our neighbors as ourselves.
And so we gather here tonight to talk about what it
means to love when we don't feel very loved in this
world.
It was exciting driving down here tonight. The
streets are full of people! And a rather extraordinary
experience took place just before I got here. I was
invited to tea at the Rector's home, the Rectory. As we
were sitting there we thought, was this a new beginning
for the church of God? There we sat in Jim's Holmes'
rectory -- a woman bishop and an openly gay priest --
thank God! And his loving partner was with us and I
have to tell you as we walked back to the church and we
heard the music over at Dupont Circle, Tim and I were
a little tempted to make a stop over there. But Jim said
we had to be here so we came over.
I want to talk about loving tonight. Because you
and I can go out of this place and we can be so filled
with bitterness and so filled with feeling oppressed that
we will not do what God would have us to do. For there
are goings-on in the church down in Texas this weekend
that break my heart as well. And I had to struggle as to
whether I would be there or not, and I have let women
down by not being there. So I ask you to pray for those
in that diocese, and for the men and women who are
part of that world, and for the oppression that they feel,
and for those who are even more oppressed who will
not ordain women.
You and I are called to tell the world about
another way of being and it's very appropriate that this
Great March is taking place in Eastertide, because you
and I are Easter people. We always believe that God is
doing a new thing and that no matter what humankind
can do, God can always overcome it.
In the epistle for tonight there is a word John
uses frequently. It is the word "abide" and that word
comes from the Hebrew word which means "to
tabernacle together." And so as you've gathered here
tonight and you have given me the privilege of gathering
with you, we've come to make that safe place, that tent
of meeting, that place of abiding, where we can come to
be refreshed and restored and healed and sent out into
the world. We need gatherings like this because
sometimes the world seems overwhelming and it's very
appropriate that people have come into this town this
weekend to say to the world, there are many of us who
care, straight and gay, for the dignity and worth of every
human being. But it is important that we find those
places, those abiding places where we can come for
strength and solace and courage.
Because the message, of course, is about loving,
it is about loving those that we do not want to love. For
if we go out of here tonight only thinking about
ourselves and the things that have been inflicted upon
us, we will not be doing what God has commanded us to
do. God has commanded us to love our neighbor as
ourself. And we know, when the lawyer asked Jesus
who our neighbor was, we got the story of the
Samaritan. But the neighbor for me is that one I really
don't want to love, and there are lots of those out there.
But if I hear these words and understand them, as I
know God has intended for me to understand, it means
that I am to love those who are the least lovable, those
who say things to me that are hurtful, because God has
called me to show the world another way. And I need
that abiding place, that tabernacling together with
people where I feel safe and I feel loved so that I can go
into a world that often I feel does not love me.
I am grateful that these are the lessons for
tonight for it would be very easy for us to be here
talking about our sorrows and the oppression that you
have felt in ways that I will never know. And there are
those among you who are people of color who have felt
oppression in ways that those of us who are white will
never know. And it is also important that this
Holocaust new museum has been opened here in
Washington this week to remind us what hatred can do.
People who are oppressed are not free from hatred.
And so that is a great reminder to me that hatred
withers my soul and makes me bitter and stingy and
mean, and we know what happens to people when we
become that way.
So I challenge you tonight as I challenge myself,
as we hear the words that were read to us in the lessons
from Holy Scripture, to love God and know that God
loves you and me. It is because God loves us and deems
us worthy that you and I are to go out in the world and
love others. The passage from Isaiah tells us what we
are to be -- a light to enlighten the nations. And so we
have a responsibility, we have a duty as Jim was saying
to me before we came tonight. We have a duty -- we
have a duty to show the world another way.
I pray for you as you are here this weekend, that
you connect with those that maybe you've not seen for a
long time, and that that abiding place which is begun
here will go with you out into the world, and you will
feel that kind of love of God and neighbor that will give
you the courage to do the things that you were called
upon to do, for the struggle is just beginning.
Being here with you tonight gives me courage. I
have been in a really bad mood all week. I have felt
oppressed. Excuse me, gentlemen, I have had men put
me down the last three days, and I've had to smile and
be nice and keep on going. And I'm sorta sick of it.
But I needed to hear those lessons. I needed to
hear that God loves me no matter what I do. And
because God loves me, then it is my privilege to serve
my God and to love those who seem most unlovable to
me.
God bless you all. Thank you once again for the
privilege of being the president of this Eucharist, and
God be with you as you go out into this world to make a
difference in the quality of life for all human beings.
In the name of God who creates us, liberates us, and
who sanctifies us. Amen.
********************
*RELIGIOUS LEADERS SUPPORT MARCH*
Representatives of several national religious
communities announced their support for the March on
Washington for Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual Equal Rights
and Liberation. Endorsement were announced at a
March 17 press conference organized by the United
Church of Christ, which ended the Interfaith IMPACT
Annual Legislative Briefing, a national gathering of
people of faith for justice and peace held in
Washington, DC. The Episcopal Church did not
endorse the march.
Rabbi Lynne F. Landsberg of the Union of
American Hebrew Congregations discussed the need
for religious people everywhere to fight discrimination
against lesbians and gays. "We are here today to say,
loudly and clearly, that the real traditional values of
American life -- if not always of American history -- are
those of freedom, liberty and equality."
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA) joined in these statements of support, with Kay
Dowhower saying, "The ELCA has committed itself to
participate in God's mission by 'advocating dignity and
justice for all people' ... which commits the church to
the civil rights of homosexuals ... The ELCA continues
its support of the Civil Rights Amendments Act for Gay
and Lesbian Civil Rights. We urge swift passage of this
legislation. We look upon the upcoming March on
Washington as one way in which those supportive of the
civil rights for all persons, regardless of sexual
orientation, can join together to support one another in
that effort."
Robert F. Glover of the Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ) agreed, saying, "The church stands
firm today in its support for civil rights and in its
solidarity with those who have too long endured the
burden of fear, ignorance, hatred and violence ... We
strongly support the April 25th March on Washington ...
in the hope that the day will soon come when all
Americans will enjoy equally the rights of their
citizenship."
Robert A. Alpern, director of the Washington
office of the Unitarian Universalist Association, spoke
of the long history of many religious groups in support
of gay and lesbian rights, saying, "After passage of the
anti-civil rights initiative in Colorado, the Unitarian
Universalist's General Assembly Planning Committee
withdrew its reservation for the $3 million 1997 General
Assembly in Colorado. And our Beacon Press mailed
copies of a newly published book "Homophobia: How
We All Pay the Price" to 150 public libraries in
Colorado. So it is in this spirit ... that we have for
months urged Unitarian Universalists from across the
continent to come to Washington and join this historic
manifestation to reverse the cruel discrimination
practiced against 25 million or more of our relatives,
friends and others we do not know."
********************
*JOURNEY FOLK*
by Donald Snyder
Ubi sunt gaudia, In any place but there?
There are angels singing Nova cantica,
And there the bells are ringing, in Regis curia,
O that we were there!
This stanza from "In Dulci Jubio," especially the
line, 'O that we were there!' kept flowing through my
mind as the various events surrounding the March on
Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Equal
Rights and Liberation began to unfold. I knew the
special importance of this event, as did everyone in the
gay and lesbian community. Even so, it soon became
apparent that others saw the event's importance as well.
The mainstream media, such as The New York Times,
NBC, and National Public Radio, did a number of
stories on gay and lesbian issues and used the march as
a way to introduce them. I couldn't help but feel some
support from these articles and stories, as the
momentum in my own mind began to build.
The significance of the march was in evidence as
Allen Lowe, my close friend and traveling companion,
and I began our journey toward Washington on Friday
morning. As we drove on I-95 we came upon two
women from New Hampshire with the hand-made sign,
"Honk If You're Queer," in their back window and four
men in a rental car from New York with a large
lavender triangle in the rear window. No guessing was
needed as to their destination. Even the four people
from New Jersey with the Rand-McNally Street Map for
Washington in their side window subtly stated their
weekend location.
At a well reviewed restaurant in Philadelphia,
our sense of anticipation continued. Our server shared
stories about people she knew who were going, and the
bartender told of his plans to leave on Saturday.
Upon arrival in the Dupont Circle area, I had
the impression that the nation's capital had been
transformed into a gay and lesbian small town. People
walking to their destinations and visiting with strangers
proved that given half a chance, we don't have to
maintain the icy veneer that is often present in gay and
lesbian bars.
There was a family reunion feeling as Integrity
members and friends began to gather at St. Thomas
Church. As the service began and we sang the hymns,
the standing-room-only congregation exuded more spirit
and verve than the acoustics and architecture of the
church could contain. It was so inspiring to hear the
epistle reader for the evening share her heartfelt
thoughts about having been alienated by the Southern
Baptist Church several years earlier, and how she had
found a special sense of reconnection with organized
religion through Washington's Integrity chapter. As a
musician, I found a special warmth in hearing "Es flog
ein kleine Waldvogelsin," "Noel nouvelet," and "Land of
Rest," three of my favorite hymn tunes. Jane Holmes
Dixon, Washington's new Suffragan Bishop, spoke so
thoughtfully of the ease with which she happily accepted
the invitation to be our preacher and celebrant. The
Washingtonians outdid themselves, providing a
sumptuous buffet for all in attendance. Talk about
feeding the five thousand! As we dined, we had more of
an opportunity to greet old friends and make new ones.
Dupont Circle was presenting its own spring
flower show as the last of the cherry blossoms and tulips
as large as my cupped hand were in great evidence. The
Circle proved to be an impromptu "meet and greet" for
many people, including me. It was hard to believe that I
would have to go to Washington to see friends and
associates who were fellow New Yorkers.
My sense of anticipation was as bright as the
early sun as Sunday morning arrived. Even though an
estimated one million of us were in the District of
Columbia area, Washington was quiet at the 7 o'clock
hour as I drove from the home of our host family in
suburban Maryland to downtown for the Integrity
gathering at St. John's, Lafayette Square. Several of us,
bleary-eyed, met for the 8:00 Eucharist. Even though
our contingent swelled the number in attendance to
nearly one hundred from its usual half dozen or so, no
mention of the march or our presence was made during
the intercessions or announcements. Only the slightest,
if veiled, referenced could be detected during the brief
homily. My firm disappointment was tempered with a
sense of satisfaction in knowing that we, subtly but
assuredly, made our presence known. It seems like a bit
of a coup, knowing that we had accomplished this in the
"Church of Presidents," and done so in a very positive
way. Music helped redeem the service, as the organist
played Vaughan Williams' "Variations on
'Rhosymedre,'" another one of my favorites.
As I moved the car and rode the Metro back to
the Mall, I thought of others who weren't going to be in
our number that day. There was a renewed sense of
loss and grief for those who had died of AIDS or as a
result of anti-gay hate and violence. There was dismay
and even some anger for those who wouldn't have
considered coming, since being homosexual is not a real
issue or even "discussed in polite company." I knew,
however, I could take a sense of pride in representing
those who, because of distance, finances, career, or
other legitimate reasons, couldn't be there.
A sea of humanity was making its way toward the
Mall by late morning. T-shirts seemed to be the
uniform of choice for most marchers. The official
march shirts proliferated. Of the others, my favorite
was the one which said, "One Percent is a Fairy Tale."
Those of us in the Integrity contingent began to
gather at the appointed place with the other religious
groups. The only weather worry was that of sunburn.
There seemed to be a sense of relief more than
anything else, when we were finally led to the street to
join the march. We had a good number of chapters
represented in our gathering by them, as Bishop Dixon
came to greet us at the edge of the Mall. We had
visible support from those in the straight community as
well. Together the one million of us in attendance had
the opportunity, even the duty, to sign our names to the
petitions provided by the march organizers. This way
we could prove the National Park Service wrong with its
woeful under count.
It was gratifying to be in the majority as we
passed in front of the Treasury Building and were
confronted by those from the so called "religious right."
Their attempts at swaying opinions were easily rebuffed
by our refrain, "We're here! We're queer! We're
Anglican! Get used to it!" Militant as it sounded, those
statements seemed to sum up the sentiment for all of us.
With another passenger in the car we departed
Washington, spending time recounting various aspects
of our weekend as we drove north. I counted no less
than twenty-six autos with fellow "journey folk" on their
respective homeward treks. As I reflected upon the
impact of the march and its related events, I found that
the words 'O that we were there!' were transformed into
the affirmation, 'Oh, yes, we *were* there!'
********************
*ALL THINGS NEW*
A sermon preached by the Rev. Ted Karpf on April 24,
1993 at the Church of the Epiphany for the service
organized by the Washington Area Gay and Lesbian
Interfaith Alliance in observance of the March on
Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Equal
Rights and Liberation.
We're here! We're gathered to witness to the
hope and fear, the joy and trauma of being lesbian and
gay, transgender and bisexual in America. By these
days in the nation's capital we are challenged to take
our vision back to our communities to begin or continue
and invigorate our movement for equal rights across
America.
As people of faith, we hold the conviction that
no change happens apart from the presence of God.
The very content of justice is based on a holy vision of
God's ultimate victory over all that reduces and destroys
life. Such a vision informs us in the words of Isaiah:
Behold I create new heavens and a new earth; and
former things shall not be remembered or come to
mind.
The Prophet continues,
Before they call I will answer, while they are yet
speaking I will hear.
This vision is dramatic. For it suggests a new
order built out of the old -- a renewal, if you will, of
what has been transformed to what can be. We gather
here with no less dramatic and compelling
determination. And what are some of our visions?
They include tragedy and trauma, outrage and
revolution, and hope and wholeness. At the heart of
this visioning of what we have endured, what we are
demonstrating, and of that for which we yearn is the
Shalom -- peace -- envisaged by Isaiah when the whole
of creation comes to terms with itself in peace.
This hope is as old as humanity. But for bisexual
and transgender, gay and lesbian people our peace is
found in obtaining basic equal rights that we may join in
the struggle for meaning and value with all other human
beings. Gandhi is reputed to have said, "It would be a
sin if God were to appear before a hungry man in any
other form but a loaf of bread." For our community --
for we who have settled too often for the half a loaf that
wasn't always better than none -- for God to come
before us in any form but the full -- and fulfilling -- loaf
of equal rights to enter the struggle for wholeness is a
sin.
For us to be at peace requires not only faith,
which enables to us to rise above the terror, but the
basic human rights to participate in the struggle toward
meaning with all humanity. This expectation -- no, this
demand -- of ours is consistent with God's promise that
creation will be at peace with itself.
We have reached a time where our critical mass
in society is being felt. We have reached a time when
the powers and principalities of this age can no longer
ignore our presence, try though they may. There are
simply too many of us, though some surveys say we are
not enough. To that I say, if there are ten of us and we
are deprived of our rights to give and be given in
relationships and to enjoy the blessing of children, then
there are too many of us to deny. If there are only five
of us, and we are told that we cannot enter the struggle
for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, then there
are too many of us to ignore. And if there is just one of
us, and even this one cannot be allowed to just be, then
there are too many of us who are oppressed. And for
just this one, we -- all of us -- must engage in the
struggle for human rights.
There is an old Sufi legend told by Shams of Tabriz
about himself. It talks about the meaning of being
different, which is at the core of our struggle: how
others can live with the differences which our lives
present in the arena of the human struggle. The story
goes like this:
I have been considered a misfit since my childhood.
No one seemed to understand me. My own father once
said to me, "You are not mad enough to be put into a
madhouse, and not withdrawn enough to be put in a
monastery. I don't know what to do with you."
I replied, "A duck's egg was once put under a hen.
When the egg was hatched the duckling walked about
with the mother hen until they came to a pond. The
duckling went straight into the water. The hen stayed
clucking anxiously on land. Now, dear father, I have
walked into the ocean and find in it my home. You can
hardly blame me if you choose to stay on the shore."
How many of us have lived through this story?
All of us in some way or other, I expect. This is our
reason to celebrate: we have entered the ocean and
have not drowned! We celebrate the fact that we are
here today together. And what of the times in which we
live? What have they taught us to celebrate?
We are celebrating the triumph of making the
break and entering the ocean. We are celebrating the
triumph of passion become compassion as lesbian
sisters and gay brothers demonstrate unremitting love in
caring for those of us dying with AIDS. We are
celebrating the witness of our community in making
itself felt and heard in politics of the nation. We are
celebrating the commitment in love of bisexual and
transgender, lesbian and gay parents who have managed
to keep and raise their children and grandchildren in
the face of overwhelming and painful opposition. Thus,
we are celebrating our determination not to drown, but
to swim. Some wi}l say that we are celebrating the
limitations of those who stay on the shore, but that is
not true; would that the whole world be ducks!
But what gift can we ducks give to the world as
we celebrate this weekend? What can endure? We
come to live as different. To a large extent as a
community we shy from our calling to be different.
Years ago, Don Clark, in "Loving Someone Gay," said,
If you're going to be gay, you might as well be different!
Even in the late seventies, ten years after Stonewall,
many gay commentators were beginning to identify an
emerging conformity to behavior, style, language,
attitudes, and beliefs. But everything in the gay/lesbian,
bi and transgender subculture says no matter how hard
we try to look like everybody, we don't. We can't pass
and we shouldn't try. Remember: *If it walks like a
duck and talks like a duck then no matter how it looks,
it must be a duck.* Or so the story goes. I see a
dangerous desire on the part of many us to be like
everyone else. But if we who exist in the reality of exile
must become like our oppressors to get along -- to
"pass" -- then we dare not try to be anyone but who we
were created to be.
For the God-given gift is that equal rights
include the right to be different. Isaiah gives us a clue
in describing the New Creation:
The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion
shall eat straw like the ox; and dust shall be the
serpent's food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my
holy mountain.
It is not just a matter of differences existing side
by side: it is the promise that the predatory nature of
creation -- the enmity and the need to consume each
other -- will be removed from the order.
What this vision says is that we shall exist side by
side with all people. Color will be real, but not divisive.
Sexual orientation will be real, but not fear inducing.
Differences will be celebrated not abhorred. For
central to the spirit of gaiety is the spirit of difference --
of constantly being made new and different.
How then shall we live? In this week of the
dedication of the Holocaust Museum there is a message
for us in the screams, the whispers, the cries of the
captives. Several years ago I was given the horrific gift
of visiting two of the concentration camps of the
holocaust -- Dachau and Terezin. Dachau, you may
recall, was the place in Germany were those residing in
the town -- just outside the camp walls -- denied any
knowledge of the thousands upon thousand who were
killed and cremated inside the walls. Orderly,
systematic and carefully planned, Dachau was the
prototype for the Final Solution. Strangely, because
conformity was demanded and enforced, there was no
record of resistance in this systematized, planned,
hygienic industrial setting. Thousands died and
thousands more denied. And in that place there is a
prevailing sense of hopelessness and despair. Dachau is
a monument to death and destruction and human
cruelty -- systematized, planned, conformist, in every
way.
And then there is Terezin. There is the medieval
fortress and prison, and the village. This was the village
where the children were sent and from which we have
the record of their art and letters about the camps. The
prison and concentration camp are eerie in that the
original bunks, signs, window covering, bowls and
spoons remain on the tables where they were on the day
of liberation. The wind blows softly through the camp,
which feels as if its inhabitants had just left. This camp
-- which saw the execution of 35,000 through disease,
overwork, and firing squads -- is a monument to the
constant resistance of humanity to conform. For in this
camp, uprisings and escapes occurred regularly and
often. The Nazis could not control the prisoners, so
prisoners were regularly executed before all of the
camp's inmates to reinforce fear and create order. It
failed. So it had to be repeated often.
As I stood touching the bullet holes in the wall
where these executions took place, I surprisingly felt
hope. The unconquerable will of the human spirit to
survive pulsed through me. Even in a world of limited
choices and few options, we still can choose to be
different ... to not submit to those who would break us,
and beat us, and even kill us. I have had the same
experience again and again when ministering at the
bedside of those dying with AIDS; in the life-giving,
death-defying pangs of childbirth of lesbian mothers; in
counseling adolescents struggling mightily with
questions about their sexuality; and at the altar of the
church where gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender
people have come to offer again their lives to God --
and to each other -- as people of faith.
How do we live? We live by faith that the vision
of Isaiah will come to pass and that we are part of that
vision. We live by celebrating the differences and
embracing the vast array of our choices. We live by
drawing strength from the witness of our compassion,
and by the power of our passion. We live by respecting
the dignity -- and the differences -- of every human
being. We live by coming together in peace, to seek
peace and wholeness in a world which doesn't really
know what that looks like. We live by trust, by faith, by
courage, and by hope. That's how we live.
May the God of each of us, of our calling, be
with us and upon us all-ways in our search for a new
heaven and a new earth. Amen.
********************
*THE WEDDING*
by Kim Byham
Scott had a good excuse for not attending "The
Wedding" on Saturday morning. He had arrived on a
red-eye train from New York at 8:00 am and was at our
motel asleep when several thousand people gathered in
front of the IRS building. We had had the Rev. Troy
Perry, founder and moderator of the Universal
Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches and
chief officiant at the event, for dinner at our home only
a couple of weeks before. We had discussed the
ceremony and I decided to let my journalistic curiosity
overcome my Anglican disdain.
It was marvelous. Despite the name, it made no
pretense of being a wedding service or even a blessing
of union. It was, instead, a wonderful rally in support of
couple-rights. That's why it was held in front of the IRS
building -- where better to protest the inequality of
lesgay and straight couples.
The highlight was the introduction of America's most
famous lesbian couple: Karen Thompson and Sharon
Kowalski. Thompson announced that she was that
month taking Kowalski home from the nursing facility
where she has been for many years following the car
accident that left her paralyzed. Thompson's successful
custody battle with Kowalski's parents is a landmark in
lesgay couple rights.
Introduced as the oldest lesbian couple were a
delightful, though anachronistic couple from Florida.
Bobby Smith, 69, and her life partner of 33 years, Kay
Thompson, also 69, dressed in "masculine" and
"feminine" garb, respectively. The longest-term gay
couple had been together 46 years. Jim Busby and
Dusty Keyes of Arlington, VA had been brought
together by a federal government roommate service.
A number of religious "dignitaries" were briefly
introduced. They included the Rev. Karen Murphy,
Assistant Rector at Grace Church, Madison, NJ,
"representing that part of the Episcopal Church that
affirms lesbian and gay unions."
After a brief exchange of expressions of love and
the statement, "We proclaim together our rights as
couples," Perry said, "Couples, you may kiss." At that
point, the Wedding March was played and rice filled the
air. The schmaltzy ending did not detract from a
significant event, the symbolism of which was largely
lost on the straight media.
********************
*CELEBRATING LIFE*
by Bruce Garner
Well, by now, we have all learned that the
National Park Service can't count. (They give the rest
of us federal employees a bad name - if they worked for
me, they would either be in a math class or looking for a
job!)
Empowered is the word I think best describes
being in Washington along with over a million of us
homosexual types. There is nothing that can ever
compare with being among your own people, knowing
that it is your time to be, and to be who you were
created to be, without shame, without hesitation,
without fear. It was indeed our time, and I hope it was
the beginning of the end to our oppression. (I ain't that
naive, children - but I *can* hope, can't I?!)
The Eucharist on Friday night was incredible.
St. Thomas was filled to capacity. The responses of the
congregation shook the building. The singing almost
overpowered the organ. Bishop Dixon inspired us with
a homily about love and with her obvious love and
compassion for us. And as usual, our DC chapter put
on an impressive spread during the reception. It was a
welcomed reunion for so many of us, seeing folks we
hadn't seen in quite a while.
Sunday morning at St. John's Lafayette Square
was special too. It was appropriate that we begin the
day in the house of God, fed from God's table. I doubt
the 8:00 am service had seen quite so many folks in
many a day. We were acknowledged, though safely and
subtly. A bit of reality was reintroduced to us in the
realization that, even in that place, on that particular
Sunday, some of us still cannot live our lives as they
were created to be lived. We all must remember that
reality.
The rainbow of our family was quite impressive.
We looked just like who we are: ordinary, average
looking, American citizens. Our folks included the
same variations in color, appearance, dress, and attitude
that we find in the American public at large, despite
how much so many would like to deny that truth. We
really are not all that different - at least in appearance.
I visited back and forth between our Integrity
contingent with the religious organizations and the
extremely large (rumor had it to be the third largest)
Georgia delegation. (We had to make up for producing
the likes of Sam Nunn!) If we really are only 1%, there
weren't many queers anywhere else but DC that
weekend.
One of the most moving and empowering
moments for me was looking up and seeing Integrity's
banners with their cross-topped standards, some
wrapped in palm branches, processing forward with the
movement of the march. In front of us were other
religious symbols such as the orthodox processional
crosses. I saw it all again in a picture and realized how
powerful that sight really was. God was there. God was
marching with us. The symbols of God's demonstration
of love for us all led the way.
While this was a indeed a civil rights
demonstration, it was also a glorious celebration of life.
We celebrated who we are and did so in the bright light
of day - no hiding in the darkness, no cowering in
corners - but out in sight of God and everybody.
And there we were. All over the Mall (and we
weren't shopping - well maybe we were at that!). There
was the Quilt - a powerful reminder still of what
homophobia can produce when disease is linked to
prejudice. There were the entertainers and speech
makers. There were folks so angry that they made no
sense. There were others who spoke from a peace that
comes from making progress, however slowly, and
understanding that the road is still rocky and steep, but
we must plod along if we are to reach our destination.
There were those who touched us with humor - the one
salve we have for the pain that sometimes results from
our being who we are. It was good.
I hope someday we can go to DC for the sole purpose of
celebrating who we are, no political agenda's, no need
for demonstrations to get our rights, just to celebrate.
Until then, we must continue to struggle to obtain our
birthright. With the help and grace of God, I believe we
will finally take our place at the table. I pray I am alive
to see it.
********************
*EURRR's Cannons Flaming Again*
The sexuality dialogues in most parishes are now
complete. The process was extremely biased, and many
participants felt that the conclusions were preordained.
Although less than 1% of our Church's membership
participated in the dialogues, their opinions will be
proclaimed as representative of the entire Church.
Now the homosexual lobby is preparing yet another
attack. Please, read this letter carefully ...
April 22, 1993
Dear Friend,
The homosexual lobby is on the march against
the Episcopal Church ... and the next stop may be a
courtroom where "homosexual rights" replace biblical
teaching on morality.
The defendants: your parish priest and your
vestry.
How can this be happening? Here's how.
The homosexual lobby in our Church is copying
a strategy that's being used successfully on the national
political level.
Their agenda for the 1994 General Convention
calls for:
1. Passage of a non-discrimination cannon [sic].
2. Access to ordination without regard for sexual
orientation.
3. An authorized liturgy for the blessing of
same-sex unions.
The path leading to approval of the homosexual
agenda has been carefully plotted by both the
homosexual lobby, which ironically calls itself
"Integrity," and by many within our own Church
leadership. *We need your help now to counter their
efforts.*
We can only stop them if we act now ... and that's
why I'm asking for your help today. *No matter how
painful, we must face the truth. Our Church is feeling
the impact of the gay agenda.*
Bishops and priests violate the expressed position of the
Church by performing ordinations of practicing
homosexuals and blessing homosexual "unions." HOW
CAN WE BE SILENT?
This is a battle for the very soul of the Episcopal
Church. If we remain quiet we will lose. We must
speak out! We must stand together now! *The ministry
of Episcopalians United has never been more vital*.
Homosexual activists within the Church are
encouraged ... and with good reason ...
They have influenced key leaders within our
Church. On February 5, the Rt. Rev. Edmond L.
Browning, our Presiding Bishop, wrote to President
Clinton, commending him on his efforts to end the
military's ban on homosexuals in the armed forces and
expressing his belief that "gay rights" is a justice issue.
And sadly, there are a large number of lay
people within our Church who will be swayed by the
arguments of leaders like Bishop Browning ... even
though he's dead wrong!
Within the Church, the ordination of practicing
homosexuals to our clergy and the blessing of same-sex
unions are not civil rights issues ... and they are *not*
justice issues. They are theological issues, and they
must be addressed on sound theological grounds.
To bless the experience of homosexuality, we are
being asked to assent to a process which rewrites
Scripture ... nullifies the Word of God ... and disavows
2000 years of Christian moral teaching.
Approval of the homosexual agenda will so warp the
doctrine, discipline and worship of our church that
within a generation the Episcopal Church will no longer
be recognizably Christian.
And that's why we cannot give in. We must
prepare for battle and we must fight.
We must prepare sound, convincing Scriptural
arguments. We must mobilize every concerned
Episcopalian in every parish ... and we must equip them
with the information and understanding they need in
order to make a difference.
We cannot afford to lose. *Our families, our
country ... and the very soul of our Church ... these are
all at stake*.
Some 450 years ago, Martin Luther wrote:
"If I profess with the loudest voice and the clearest
exposition every portion of the truth of God, except
precisely that little point which the world and the devil
are at the moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ.
*Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier
is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield besides
is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point."*
Please stand with us today. If you don't take a
stand with us, where will you stand? If you won't stand
now, then when?
We are fighting for the right to teach our
children and grandchildren the truth of Scripture when
it comes to sexual morality ... and to give them at least
one place in our society where they can learn from
positive role models.
*We are fighting to save our Church and country
from judgment*. God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
He will judge America too.
Remember, the Scriptures says, "It is time for
judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it
begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who
do not obey the gospel of God" (1 Peter 4:17).
We must throw aside our lethargy. For years we
thought America's values where [sic] secure -- protected
by our President, our Congress and the Supreme Court.
We also believed that the Church would protect
our values -- and it should -- but we were wrong. Many
of the leaders of the Church are unwilling to defend our
values.
*Each one of us must take a stand for what we
believe, and we must unite with others who share our
convictions. It is our only hope*. We can have an
impact on the issues of our day, but only if we have
courage enough to stand ... and only if we're wise
enough to stand together.
That's why Episcopalians United was founded.
It's the reason we continue to work for reform and
renewal in the Episcopal Church.
Our job is to empower you to save the Church we love.
We're committed to giving you the weapons to fight the
battle ... to fight it well.
Episcopalians United helps you promote a
correct view of sexuality issues ... one that's faithful to
Holy Scripture and the long-held tradition of the
Church. We share successful strategies about how to
influence decisions ... not just at your local level, but
also at the diocesan and national levels.
So I urge you to become involved today, while
there's still time. The sexuality debate will be a key part
of the 1994 General Convention. *Those who believe
in the ordination of homosexuals to the Episcopal clergy
and seek the Church's blessing for same-sex unions will
be there in force*.
We must begin our preparations today! We must match
their efforts delegate-for-delegate, argument-for-
argument, dollar-for-dollar. No effort can be spared in
this critical battle.
*This is not time for passivity. If you're not
willing to stand now, then our Church is in deep
trouble*.
Perhaps you're tired of fighting -- so am I.
Frankly, I'm so sick of this issue that I just want it to go
away. During the past 5 years, the trauma of the
debate, dialogue and confrontation we've been though
has occasionally led me to despair.
But despair and discouragement are not from
the Lord ... and 2 Timothy 1:7 has been a wonderful
encouragement:
"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit
of power, of love and of self-discipline."
That's why Episcopalians United will keep
fighting. God is our true source of strength ... and as
long as we remain faithful we will see His provision.
*I invite you to be part of that provision*. Help
us redouble our efforts during this critical year for our
Church. Please search your heart today ... ask God to
show you the role He wants you to have ... then send the
most generous gift you can.
Your support will make a critical difference as
Episcopalians United continues the fight with you to
preserve the soul of our Church ... you will be helping to
save our godly heritage, not just for ourselves, but for
our children and grandchildren.
And please, don't just send a gift -- as vitally
important as that is. Humble yourself before God in a
prayer of repentance for our Church's many sins. Plead
for His mercy and grace. Ask for His divine
intervention.
Commit yourself to help fight the battle today!
Together, we can make a difference. If we
persevere, we will see God triumph.
Yours by His grace,
The Rev. Todd H. Wetzel
P.S. May God bless you for your concern for the
Episcopal Church. Please be encouraged. There are
already over 18,000 people who stand with you in
support of our ministry. Many more are with us in their
hearts. But remember, winning this battle will be
expensive! That's why I need to hear from you today.
[Editor's Note: Enclosed with this fund raiser was a
copy of page 9 of the Spring, 1993 issue of The Voice of
Integrity, which was the ad encouraging participation in
the March on Washington. We hope they enjoyed
reprinting our material as much as we enjoy reprinting
theirs.]
********************
*FORMER INTEGRITY CHAPLAIN ELECTED
FIRST FEMALE DIOCESAN*
based on a release from the Episcopal News Service
After three short ballots, the clergy and lay
delegates to a special June 5, 1993 convention of the
Diocese of Vermont elected the Rev. Mary Adelia
McLeod of West Virginia to be the first woman to serve
as a diocesan bishop in the Episcopal Church.
McLeod, rector of St. John's Church in
Charleston, West Virginia, was co-chaplain, together
with her husband, the Rev. Henry M. (Mack) McLeod,
of Integrity/Charleston until it disbanded in 1986. She
is strongly supportive of equal rights for lesbians and
gay men in the Church.
In an interview with the press, McLeod said that
the election of women to the episcopate is important.
She added, however, that the diocese "in great prayer
and consideration and thought were led by the Holy
Spirit to elect me" and the fact that "I just happen to be
a woman is incidental."
When she is consecrated in October, pending
consents from a majority of standing committees and
bishops in the church, McLeod would become the third
woman bishop in the Episcopal Church. Bishop Barbara
Harris was elected suffragan bishop of Massachusetts in
September of 1988 -- and the first woman bishop in the
history of the Anglican Communion -- and Bishop Jane
Dixon was elected suffragan bishop of Washington
(DC) in May of 1992. Bishop Penelope Jamieson of
New Zealand was consecrated in June 1990 as the first
woman in the Anglican Communion to head a diocese.
Women have been candidates in a number of
recent elections in the Episcopal Church. McLeod was
among the first women considered for the episcopate
and Vermont was the fifth time she had been a final
candidate.
Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning offered
his prayers for the new bishop and said that "this new
chapter in her ministry is a new chapter in the life of our
church as well." Contending that the ministry of the
church "is enriched by the gifts of both women and
men," the Presiding Bishop added, "We can rejoice as
another step is taken toward our episcopal ministry
better reflecting this blessing."
McLeod was born and grew up in Alabama and,
after a number of years as a mother (she and her
husband have five grown children) and homemaker, she
took her seminary degree at the School of Theology at
the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. As
archdeacon for the western region of West Virginia, she
has helped shape an innovative cluster ministry and has
been active in supporting rural deans, clergy
deployment and she has served on Diocesan Council,
president of the Standing Committee and a deputy to
General Convention in 1988 and 1991.
Ironically, the current bishop of West Virginia,
the Rt. Rev. John H. Smith, who has strongly opposed
full inclusion of lesgay persons in the Episcopal Church,
was a priest in Vermont at the time of his election in
West Virginia.
********************
*JUDGE DISMISSES $4 MILLION LAWSUIT IN
VIRGINIA*
based on a release from the Episcopal News Service
During a preliminary June 2 hearing in Arlington
Circuit Court, Judge Benjamin Kedrick dismissed a $4
million lawsuit against the Rev. Bruce Newell, accused
of sexual misconduct, the parish where he served, its
rector and the bishop of Virginia. The suit was filed by
a woman who said that Newell had sexually abused her
for 11 months when he was serving Falls Church. And it
charged that the diocese, Bishop Peter James Lee, the
church and its rector shared responsibility for the injury.
The judge said that the complaint exceeded the two-
year statute of limitations on personal injury case and
would have required the court to delve into theological
issues in violation of the separation of church and state.
It would have required "a secular court of law to
establish standards of conduct for members of the
clergy, which would undermine the First Amendment of
the United States Constitution," according to a
statement from Bishop Lee. The bishop said that, after
a presentment and an investigation by a church-
appointed board, the diocese had decided to proceed
with an ecclesiastical trial of Newell.
********************
*I WAS IN PRISON AND YOU CAME TO ME*
by (the Rev.) Barry L. Stopfel
When I was a young boy growing up in the farm
country of Pennsylvania, I spent most of my own time
roaming the corn fields, meadows and woods. Each
year I would bargain with my parents to lengthen my
tether, and they would reluctantly allow me to explore a
little farther. By the time I was 12, I could be gone for
the day lost in the seasons of the earth.
When I was eight years old, my father took me to
an invitation-only open house for the new county prison.
I was enthusiastic and a little afraid about being on the
inside of such a place.
More than thirty years later I can close my eyes and
hear the sounds, sense the smells, and picture the colors
of the floors and cinder block walls, and the pattern of
steel, cement and wire. During the tour I stuck to my
father like glue. I figured they would let me leave with
him -- unless of course someone told them that I had
stolen some corn out of Mr. Schaeffer's corn crib to
throw against people's houses on Halloween.
One of the guards asked me if I wanted to into a
cell. My curiosity overcame my anxiety and into the
terrifying unknown I went. I walked only a few steps
when the cell door crashed shut behind me. It was an
isolation cell with no windows and a solid steel door. I
panicked. Trapped! Doomed! Someone knew of my
corn caper! I'm dead, I thought -- an eternity of
captivity is a terrible price to pay for a few ears of corn
the pigs would never miss in their trough.
I started kicking everywhere, hollering as loud as
I could. I vowed that I would never commit even the
tiniest infraction of the law because I would die if I
ended up in a prison. In my young boy's way I knew
that the source of my life was my freedom to roam.
The childhood memory made a return visit in
technicolor and SenseSurround the night I walked into
the Bureau of Correction's Adult Diagnostic and
Treatment Center to participate in a Bible study group
with gay sex offenders. I saw the building and the
guards through the eyes of a familiar eight-year-old who
seemed to have taken over my senses. And the faint
sketches of Jesus' words filtered through my awareness,
"I was in prison and you came to me ... as you did it to
one of the least of these you did it to me."
I often say that proclaiming the Gospel and
living by the way of Jesus is risky business with a cost
attached. In the first moments at Avenel the cost for
me was walking through those sense memories that
created fear and dread in me, for I still need to roam
the seasons of the woods to stay lodged in my faith and
close to my God. The thought of imprisonment by
walls, by ideas, by fear, or by any tyranny strikes fear in
my heart.
I learned very quickly the cost of caring about
the spiritual journeys of the men in the Bible study
group. I had been invited into the ministry by my good
friend Louie Crew and so we arrived together. As
would be expected the security procedures to enter the
prison are rigorous. One of the corrections officers on
duty had heard that a guest had been invited to lead the
Bible study. It was soon obvious that the officer would
abuse his ultimate authority through his immunity to the
demands of human kindness. He seemed all too happy
to dish out an abusive and deliberately insulting security
process on my behalf. In the face of the hatred of this
prison guard's demeaning the humanity of a stranger
priest, the little boy and I joined hands waiting for the
sound of the slamming door. I imagine there must be a
similar chilling sound when the doors on our lives slam
shut when we give words or actions to bigotry and hate.
The following week we filed a complaint. A
member of the Bible group wrote later, "you will be
pleased to know that the officer has been removed from
contact with civilians. The bad news is that he'll have
more contract with us inmates. I think he learned his
lesson. And besides, we're used to him. Perhaps it's
just as well that he works here. It keeps him off the
streets for eight hours a day. I feel better knowing that
the public is safe one shift a day." In his letter there was
no rancor, no malice, just graceful human wisdom
destroying the power of human hate. As I read the
letter, the line between who should be on the inside and
who should be on the outside of the prison walls grew
suddenly thin.
Each month in the prison, I encounter a group of
men who have been willing to suffer shame and abuse
in order to hear a gospel of hope, healing, acceptance
and forgiveness proclaimed to them. In their world
there is little evidence of a regard for religious
experience of the human spirit. These men are
searching for the goodness of God in themselves and in
each other amidst the wreckage of their own lives.
Before I was an authorized volunteer at the
prison I submitted to regular humiliation so that they
could hear a Gospel of hope, a Gospel that reflected
back to them their goodness as a creature of God.
After my visits they willingly endured the personal
degradation of strip searches for I might be smuggling
drugs in my Bible. I heard the echoes of the soldiers
voices as they stripped Jesus and cast lots for his
garments when I heard the guard enter the room and
bark the command, "clothes off" while he slipped on his
latex gloves to do the rectal exams.
It felt hard bearing the burden of the one whose
presence forced these brothers in Christ to undergo a
humiliating procedure. Even so, one of the men with
profound and redeeming humor wrote later, "It was
always wonderful to have Barry with the group. Tell
him none of us minded taking our clothes off for him."
His comment may startle all of us with its many
layers of human sexual innuendo. But the truth of his
comment is that within this particular context of
physical violation and certainly within the context of the
community of gay men, innuendo and humor are covers
for lifetimes of hurt. Such humor is a life-giving balm to
those who suffer personal and verbal abuse at the hands
of other human beings who have the social and
institutional power to do so.
The men were grateful for my being there. And
they were powerfully enlivened by the Gospel. They
proved, in their very spiritual survival, the power of the
Word and its healing spirit to overcome the power of
death in systems of violence.
These men are not the demons that we somehow
need them to be when we debate crime and
punishment. Like each of us they are formed by God in
their Mother's womb. But the sacred fabric of their
selves has been torn by a complex weaving of
circumstances early in their lives that was largely
beyond their control. In nearly every instance they have
been sexually abused. They know too well the
degradation born by both the abused and the abuser.
They understand instinctively the human nature of
those who abused Jesus, and they know the suffering
that results from such abuse. Jesus understood the
suffering of the abused and the rage of the abuser and
was willing to offer forgiveness to both.
I have come to know that when I hear the doors
slam, sense the cold steel and barbed wire, climb the
concrete steps to the prison room, I walk the steps that
Jesus walked. When I sit down and open the Bible
amidst the brokenness of these men's lives and the
broken places of my own, I know that Jesus is there. I
am on sacred ground with gay men who know, like
Harvey Milk, that the important thing is not that we can
live on hope alone, but that life is not worth living
without it.
Yes, some of my brothers have made damaging
choices for which they have come to freely accept
responsibility. Daily in their therapy and study, they
take responsibility for their actions and work hard on
themselves to grab a measure of psychological and
spiritual health. In their search for healing I see the
Christ embracing their need and pain.
I am touched by their willingness to express their
thirst for living water. With these men I have seen
grace and hope emerge over and over, and my faith is
fed.
All of us in that small prison Bible study room
become free to roam the endless banks and swim the
ever-flowing rivers of our God-given human spirits.
There is more than death inside those walls after all. By
the grace of God and the hope of the men in our group,
the fear in the little boy within me who shows up each
month is both calmed and liberated. The prisoners
have set me free.
-----
Barry L. Stopfel was installed on June 19, 1993 as rector
of St. George's, Maplewood, New Jersey. He was
ordained as an openly gay man in September, 1991.
This article appeared in the May, 1993 issue of "The
Voice," the publication of the Diocese of Newark, and
was part of their "Journey of the Spirit Series." It is
reprinted with permission.
********************
*CELEBRATING A SEASON OF PRIDE!!*
The National AIDS Memorial Established in 1985
Located in The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 112th
& Amsterdam Ave NYC
The National AIDS Memorial "honors the dead"
through the AIDS Memorial Shrine and the Book of
Remembrance in which the names of those who have
died of HIV/AIDS related conditions are inscribed.
We "serve the living" through the provision of small
(primarily start-up or special project) grants to
organizations who serve those with HIV. Over
$80,000.00 in grants have been made since 1985, drawn
from the contributions which have been sent in with
names. Our Board is all volunteer, and only 5% of
donations to the memorial goes for maintenance. 85%
of contributions to the Memorial are returned to the
community in grants and 10% is reserved for the
establishment of a permanent memorial to all who have
died in this epidemic. Contributions are always
welcome, but not required for the submission of names
for the book. We have a "master list" of names, and will
check for duplications. To submit names or for more
information please fill out the coupon and mail to:
The National AIDS Memorial,
P.O. Box 5202,
NYC, NY 10185-0043
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Your
name:__________________________________________________
Address:________________________________
Apt./Box # ________
City(Boro)____________________State:________Zip:____________
Please send me additional information
___about the memorial ___about the grant process
___about making a bequest
I have enclosed the following donation $______
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Please inscribe the following names in the Book of
Remembrance: (Use additional paper if needed)
Note: We do have a Master List of the Names already
in the Book, and will check for duplications before
entering names that are submitted.
Name Dates (if known) Comments
1)__________________________________________________________
2)__________________________________________________________
3)__________________________________________________________
4)__________________________________________________________
5)__________________________________________________________
********************
*BOOK REVIEWS*
NOTHING NEW
"New Millennium, New Church: trends shaping the
Episcopal Church for the 21st Century"
Kew, Richard and Roger J. White. "New Millennium,
New Church: trends shaping the Episcopal Church for
the 21st Century." Boston, MA: Cowley Publications,
1992. $12.95.
Review by (the Rev.) W. Keith McCoy
Easily the most talked about book in the
Episcopal Church in the past few months, "New
Millennium, New Church" is offered as a "compass for
the 1990s," which will guide local parishes, as well as the
national church, away from self-wounding controversy
and towards a more Anglican (read: polite and quiet)
existence. While chock-full of ideas and opinions, it is
not so much a compass as a conservative wish book for
the near future. Another book would be needed to
comment on the authors' many thoughts, too many of
which I found unfinished, but let me tackle a few that
may be of interest to readers of this forum.
One theme that runs under the entire text is that
the Episcopal Church is essentially conservative, but
good-hearted, but it has been the captive in recent years
of a small band of liberal experimenters and social
activists. Somehow, this minority always manages to
elect sheep-like delegates to General Convention, and
then lead them into temptation with strange resolutions
and canons. Kew and White suggest that the time has
come when right-thinking people will start attending
these conventions and begin making decisions that will
not upset the real majority anymore.
As an observer of and participant in diocesan
politics for almost twenty years, my opinion is that the
clergy and laity sent to General Convention are
generally among the most caring, thoughtful, and
religious people of our church. As such, they have
voted to allow women into the priesthood, revise the
BCP, and recommend the tithe because, having weighed
all the arguments, they made what they felt was a
Christian decision. It so happens that the liberals have
made all of the arguments in favor of those actions.
The conservatives, on the other hand, have been against
everything, and never for anything. They say,
"Whatever justice (hymnal, program ...) we have today is
fine -- I'm satisfied, and so should be the rest of the
Episcopal Church." Faced with a choice of thoughtful
progress or mere stand-patism, General Convention has
rightly opted for progress.
The authors stumble over this right at the
beginning of their book. While lamenting our decline in
numbers from the boom years of the 1950s, they ignore
their own quote from Vance Packard that many people
joined our denomination at that time because it was the
social thing to do. Many then chose to leave when
issues of faith vs. the world were raised, beginning with
the Vietnam War. The church population has stabilized
because almost everyone left believes that we are a
religious organization, not a club.
When they get into their chapter on single-issue
organizations, Kew and White again suggest that good
people have been chased away by irresponsible actions.
I can respect the decision of a person who leaves
because their theology no longer meshes with that of
the parish or the wider Episcopal Church. I wonder,
however, at how great a loss it is when someone
flounces out over the "imagined 'unbelief' of their
rector, an ill-considered pronouncement or action by a
bishop, or an objection to the policies of the national
church." (p. 124) Parishioners who leave over imagined
issues or statements from regional and national
headquarters are more interested in feeling cosseted
than in grappling with matters of faith. Moreover, if we
express regret because someone leaves over, say, the
ordination of women as priests, aren't we also regretting
taking that step and those priests?
Integrity is only mentioned once specifically, but
the reader gets the sense that it is a part of that cabal
which has hijacked the true faith. While credited with
media savvy and a sound knowledge of the political
process, we are, in the authors' words, "speak[ing] for a
relatively small group of activists." p. 126) This
contrasts with Episcopalians United, with 20,000
"members" and a big budget. Kew and White feel this is
evidence of something; might I suggest the hollowness
of EU's arguments?
Using a Gallup survey, a few publications from
other denominations, and their own impressions, most
of what Kew and White provide as planning fodder for
the future of our denomination is only speculation.
They have adopted every progressive action in the
Episcopal Church over the last thirty years as their own,
and then decry the possibility of further change. They
have decided what they want the church to look like in
ten years, and then found the material to back up their
concept.
This book has nothing new. It is just the lament
of those people who would never be moved to change
one iota of their current existence, but, once moved,
find that change acceptable. Now they ask the church
not to make them move forward again. Come 2000 AD,
we will probably find Kew and White again celebrating
the current state of the Episcopal Church, and still
warning against some further progress.
NEW PRAYERS FOR OLD OCCASIONS
"Daring to Speak Love's Name, A Gay and Lesbian
Prayer Book."
Stuart, Elizabeth, Editor. "Daring to Speak Love's
Name, A Gay and Lesbian Prayer Book." London:
Hamish Hamilton, 1992.
Review by (The Rev.) Paul Woodrum
Editor Elizabeth Stuart's "Daring to Speak Love's
Name, A Gay and Lesbian Prayer Book," fulfills three
functions. First, it provides a lot of apologia for gay
people liturgically celebrating life's transitions. Second,
it's a resource for gay/lesbian specific public rites.
Third, it provides prayers and readings for private
meditation.
It's not quite clear to whom most of the apologia
is directed, especially the extensive justification given
for celebrating lesbian and gay relationships." Most of
it is pretty familiar stuff to lesbians and gay men who
have experienced any sort of consciousness raising what
so ever. All the right people are quoted from John
Boswell to John McNeill to Carter Heyward. It is a
helpful summary of the polemics, useful perhaps, for a
quick refresher course before trotting off to a meeting
of the diocesan commission on human sexuality.
A straight audience who might benefit most from
this part of the book is probably the least likely to read
it. Much of the apologia may be in response to the
rather strange publication history of the volume.
Initially, it was to be published by the SPCK which, not
untypically, developed a case of the jitters about dealing
with subjects gay and lesbian. Unable to get its own
auditors to condemn the publication, it finally resorted
to an unprecedented appeal to Archbishop of
Canterbury and SPCK President George Carey for an
opinion. He disapproved. The SPCK backed away
from publication. The C of E breathed a sigh of relief
at once again being able to avoid sex.
If the apologia isn't directly in response to all this
heterosexist nonsense, the extensive Preface, Foreword
and Introduction certainly are. The Preface and
Forward are worth reading for the insights they provide
into the fragility and fears of heterosexuals.
The Introduction by Dr. Stuart counters with a
splendid discussion of Blessed Aelred of Rievaulx's
theology of Christian friendship and relates his 12th
century thought to 20th century feminist and gay and
lesbian thought, especially as applied to liturgical
understanding and expression, naming and claiming the
validity of the lesgay experience of the holy.
Stuart provides extensive and varied resources
for liturgies celebrating relationships, housewarmings,
coming out, partings, illness (particularly HIV & AIDS),
and death. Considering the contributions of gay people
to liturgy for which they seem to have had a special
affinity over the centuries - at least 60% of the official
revisers of the American BCP and Hymnal were gay or
lesbian - it may seem somewhat ironic that anything
more is needed. Stuart, by the way, is Roman Catholic
but, being British, just sounds Anglican and her views
are certainly not those in much favor with the Vatican.
Stuart's contribution is not in replacing the standard,
general and common devotions of the church, but in
augmenting them with expressions growing from and
applicable to the lesbian and gay life of prayer, public
and private. Her audience is ecumenical. Her
resources are diverse. Her coverage including rites and
prayers for coming out, for partings, and for HIV/AIDS
is comprehensive. One would be hardpressed not to
find something helpful for either planning public
worship or for private devotion.
"Daring to Speak Love's Name" is not the final
word, nor even the penultimate, but it is a valuable
addition to a growing body of resources which openly
incorporate and informs the lesbian/gay experience of
the common prayer of God's holy people.
********************
*Chapter Updates*
Changes in Integrity Chapters since the Winter 1993
issue:
New:
.LM 16
Integrity/Boston-Metro
Christ Church, Episcopal
12 Quincy Ave.
Quincy, MA 02169
Integrity/East Tennessee
P.O. Box 4956
Chattanooga, TN 37405
Integrity/Maine
P.O. Box 25
Waldoboro, ME 04572
Integrity/Toledo
2272 Collingwood Blvd.
Toledo, OH 43620
Integrity/Twin Cities
c/o University Episcopal Center
317 17th Ave. S.E.
Minneapolis, MN 55414
Integrity/Melbourne
St. Stephen's Anglican Church
3 Docker St.
Richmond, VIC 3121
AUSTRALIA
.LM 11
New Name and New Address:
.LM 16
Integrity/Los Angeles
7985 Santa Monica Blvd. #109-113
West Hollywood, CA 90046
.LM 11
New Addresses:
.LM 16
Integrity/Central Florida
P.O. Box 530031
Orlando, FL 32853-0031
Dignity-Integrity/Charlottesville
P.O. Box 3670
Charlottesville, VA 22903
.LM 11
No longer meeting:
.LM 16
Integrity/Central Indiana
Integrity/Colorado
Integrity/San Antonio
.LM 11
********************
*The University of South Dakota Press*
Announces Publication of
*Don't Hang Up...*
an anthology of poems about AIDS
edited by Andrew Miller
This unique volume of poetry is a collection of
works by both professional and amateur writers from
across the country, all of whom have lost loved ones to
AIDS. The works are expressions of their pain and
confusion, their fears and hopes. Their voices, too often
drowned out by those who would pass judgment,
represent the humanness of the suffering caused by this
ongoing tragedy. Their cries of loss transcend the
cultural, political and religious barriers that divide us, to
reveal the universality of their experience. The book's
title is taken from a poem by Dr. Louie Crew, Integrity's
founder. "Don't Hang Up" has also been made into a
short-subject film.
It is the hope of the editor and the University of
South Dakota Press that this volume can bring comfort
to those who are still suffering and can bring new
understanding and compassion to those who are still
trapped by fear and prejudice. All profits from the
volume will be donated to an AIDS research or
education program.
The book sells for *$8.95 postpaid* *
For more information, contact USD Press at either
(605) 677-5401 or (605) 624-8258. To order, send your
check, money order, or credit card information to: The
University of South Dakota Press, 301 East Hall, USD,
414 East Clark, Vermillion, SD 57069.
ISBN 0-929925-20-3
* South Dakota residents please add 5% sales tax.
********************
*DISCIPLES' CANDIDATE SUPPORTIVE*
Based on an Episcopal News Service Release
Members of the General Board of the Christian
Church (Disciples of Christ) endorsed the Rev. Richard
Hamm, a 45-year-old Tennessee church executive, for
general minister and president of the denomination.
Hamm told members of the board that decisions on the
ordination of homosexuals should be left up to local
regions and congregations. "After working through my
homophobia, Bible study and much prayer, I came to
believe that homosexuality in and ofitself should not be
a bar to ordination," he said. Hamm added that he has
no intention, however, of forcing his views upon the
denomination. He said he would speak the truth as one
Disciple, while encouraging others whose views are
different to speak. In 1991 the Rev. Michael Kinnamon
was not elected president of the denomination because
of his support of lesbian and gay Disciples in the
ordained ministry. The election of a new president will
take place in the meeting of the church's General
Assembly in July.
********************
*CLAUDIA'S COLUMN*
"Our nettlesome task is to discover how to organize our
strength into compelling power so that (the church)
cannot elude our demands. We must develop, from
strength, a situation where (the church) finds it wise and
prudent to collaborate with us. It would be the height
of naivete to wait passively until (the church) had
somehow been infused with such blessings of good will
that it implored us for our programs. The first course is
grounded in mature realism; the other, in childish
fantasy."
(I have replaced "government" with "the
church")
-- *The Words of Martin Luther King, Jr.*, p. 45
Several weeks ago the people of the Diocese of
Minnesota gathered to meet the three clergypeople who
had been chosen as candidates for bishop. One
question, especially, surfaced for each of the candidates,
"In this decade of evangelism, how do you see church
growth occurring?" The questioner then proceeded to
explain that parishes are interested in techniques to
attract new members and that they expect help from the
bishop in this area. Each of the candidates responded
similarly in that they emphasized introspection before
outreach. That is, they would encourage individual
congregations to ask what it is that they have to offer
their members and what is preventing the active
participation of those who are on the fringes of parish
communities; those who rarely attend service or
participate in parish functions yet do just enough to
keep their names on the parish register.
The question of increasing chapter membership
surfaces often for those of us involved with Integrity and
local chapters. What, we want to know, can we do to
enlarge our membership; to increase growth. In
response to that question, I turn to the reply of the
bishop candidates. We must first look inward asking
ourselves what we have to offer our present members
and what is preventing active participation of those who
continue on our membership rosters while participating
only on the fringes.
Despite the objections of some African-
Americans, I see many parallels between the civil rights
struggles of their community and those of our lesbigay
community. Although racism continues to exist in our
church, progress towards its obliteration has been made.
In search of answers to what we can learn from our
African-American sisters and brothers I have turned in
part to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. One of Dr.
King's most powerful attributes is the immediacy of a
well defined and confidently voiced vision and
understanding of mission as well as a strategy for its
fulfillment. I believe that it is a vision and strategy that
is of utmost importance to members of Integrity
chapters yet is often either lacking or poorly presented.
If we cannot articulate who we are, what we expect of
the church, and how we intend to accomplish our goals,
what exactly is it that appeals to our membership?
What do we have to offer them?
I often wonder how many of our members would
be able to articulate the vision of their individual
chapters. It seems to me that not only does the vision
vary from chapter to chapter, but in many cases it varies
dramatically from chapter member to chapter member.
"Our nettlesome task is to discover how to organize our
strength into compelling power ..." We will not attain
that power, my sisters and brothers, until we define
common goals and strategies and I believe that the hope
of a compelling power "so that the church cannot elude
our demands" is the greatest gift that we have to offer
our members and that lack of cohesiveness, vision, and
strategy is what keeps many members on the fringes.
Had members of the civil rights movement been asked
to define their goals, and had the responses varied from
goals of socializing with other African-Americans to
working for the inclusion of all African-Americans in
every aspect of American life and society, I believe
there would have been no civil rights movement, no
strength organized into compelling power to move white
America to welcome our African-American sisters and
brothers. In the same vein, my friends, I believe that if
our goals are as divergently defined as providing a safe
social environment for Episcopalian lesbigay persons, to
working for the inclusion of all lesbigay persons in every
aspect of the life and ministry of our church, I fear that
there will be no strength to organize into a compelling
power to move our church to welcome us to full
inclusion.
It's not uncommon for us to question whether
lesbigay persons are included in "The Episcopal Church
Welcomes You" signs. How willing and able are we to
say, "This Integrity Chapter Welcomes You"; persons of
color, women, feminists, users of inclusive language,
differently abled persons, conservative, and bi-sexual
persons? Until we practice the inclusion that we
demand from our church, there will be no strength in
our chapters and our goals might as well be to provide a
safe place to socialize, or for lesbigay persons to meet
prospective partners, or to catch up on local gossip. In
each of these activities we can talk about the wish for
inclusion for each of us into the full life and ministry of
our church, but "it would be the height of naivete to wait
passively until the church had somehow been infused
with such blessings of good will ..." There would be no
church, my friends, if the early disciples had no common
goal; where some saw their mission to proclaim the
Christ, and others, to band together solely for strength
against the Roman government, and others yet, to set
themselves up as better than the Jews who still
practiced the old law. Their strength was their common
goal to proclaim Jesus Christ which became the
compelling power that brought those to whom they
witnessed to Christ and the new law.
Advertising in local lesbigay papers and diocesan
newsletters might attract a few new members and
increase your chapter size, my friends. Your strength,
however, lies in the power of a unified goal: the
inclusion of lesbigay persons in the full life and ministry
of the Episcopal Church. When that goal is identified
and articulated and when all those who count
themselves members of your chapters feel their
inclusion in the life of the chapter, the strategies can be
defined and others will want to add their commitments
and strengthen your power in the church.
"We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today.
We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In
this unfolding conundrum of life and history there is
such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the
thief of time. Life often leaves us standing bare, naked,
and dejected with a lost opportunity ... over the
bleached bones and jumbled residues of numerous
civilizations are written with the pathetic words: 'Too
late' ... This may well be our last chance to choose
between chaos and community."
-- *The Words of Martin Luther King, Jr.*, p. 90
We can't wait until next June to articulate our
goals, define our strategies, and muster our strength just
in time for the General Convention. "Tomorrow is
today." Let us welcome all who have chosen to affiliate
with our chapters to discuss and define our goals and to
develop strategies so that those goals can and will be
met. When that has been accomplished, we will witness
a renewed strength, an inviting organization, chapters so
powerful that, in joining forces with all other chapters,
the church will no longer be able to exclude us from full
life and ministry within her.
********************
*JOSHUA'S BAPTISM PUSHES THE BOUNDARIES
OF THE FAMILY OF GOD*
by Lily DeYoung
In the early church, the celebration of Easter was
preceded by an all-night vigil. When dawn broke,
neophytes were baptized into the Christian family, and
the Easter festival began.
But the baptism of three-month old Joshua
Kilian Meneghin on February 14 at the Church of the
Redeemer, Morristown, was preceded by a five-year
vigil kept by Cindy Meneghin and Maureen Kilian, his
parents.
Cindy and Maureen are a lesbian couple who
have been together since 1974, shortly after they met in
high school. Although both were raised as Catholics,
they never felt personal anxiety about their sexuality.
From the beginning, they have lived openly as a couple
hoping that family and church would accept them as
other couples were accepted and celebrated. When
acceptance and celebration did not come, they began
the long, slow process of helping people to understand.
"We have always been 'out' and open so that we
could be a role model to other lesbians and gays, and
for their families ... especially for families because they
often fear that being gay means being unhappy," said
Cindy. "As people got to know us, they began to
understand that we were a couple, in love and very
happy." She said, "It took many years of struggle to help
our parents and siblings to see that a 'couple' was not
necessarily a man and a woman, that we were just as
much a couple as they were with their spouses."
One meaningful sign of their acceptance as a
couple came when Maureen's parents included a
picture of Maureen and Cindy on the wall with the
pictures of her six siblings and their spouses, and when
the family began sending anniversary cards to them
each August 28.
Like many other couples, they wanted a child.
"We started talking about having a baby five years ago,"
said Cindy. "But we knew that 'our world' wasn't quite
ready yet." So again, they started the slow process of
helping people to understand.
They told family, friends and co-workers about
their desire to start a family. At first people were
surprised. Gradually, as their notions of "family" grew,
friends told the couple, "You'd be good parents!"
Cindy and Maureen wanted church to be a part
of their child's life too. But unlike the family and
friends who had openly accepted them, their church did
not. After years of committed service as parish lectors,
eucharistic and youth ministers, Cindy and Maureen
were told that they could not participate in couples'
programs or start a gay group, and if they had a child,
he or she could 'probably' be baptized, but in private.
To Cindy and Maureen it seemed that the Catholic
Church was the only place where their child and his
family would not be welcome.
To forego church was not an option. Said
Maureen, "We need organized religion. We want
community. And we decided we would either find it or
make it!"
Their search brought them to a visit one Sunday
to Redeemer. There, they were impressed by the
diversity of the congregation and the inclusive liturgical
language. But they wanted to find a church closer to
home. Redeemer was eighteen miles away, and they
were used to a neighborhood church.
They visited many Episcopal churches, and
deeply appreciated the welcome they found. They
decided to return to Redeemer when they learned that
its inclusiveness was not the personal initiative of a few
but rather a parish-wide commitment officially
undertaken by the vestry. Vestry member Ann Johnson
assured them that homophobia was not acceptable at
Redeemer and that if anyone felt uncomfortable with
that, it would be their problem, not Cindy's or
Maureen's ... and not Joshua's.
Said Cindy, "That was a complete reversal for us.
For once, we wouldn't have to struggle with others'
exclusionary concepts of family and fears about gay
relationships." "And we knew," said Maureen, "that
Redeemer was not a gay parish either. That wasn't
what we wanted. We have always wanted to belong to a
community that includes people of different races, ages,
ethnic backgrounds and sexual orientations. It's what
we want for Joshua: to experience the real world within
his church community."
Preaching at Joshua's baptism, rector Philip
Wilson said that if teaching today, in place of 'the
Kingdom' Jesus might use the image of 'the Family of
God.' "If we accept 'the Family of God' as the
definition of Jesus' vision," Wilson said, "then the action
of God is to ever enlarge the family, ever to push the
circle wider."
That day, the Redeemer community
enthusiastically embraced Josh and his family. After
their vigilant five years of preparation, his parents are
happy and confident: Joshua is a member of the family
just as much as anyone else.
-----
Lily DeYoung is a member of Church of the Redeemer,
Morristown. This article first appeared in the April,
1993 issue of "The Voice", the publication of the
Diocese of Newark, and is reprinted with permission.
********************
*Special Section:*
*LESGAYS IN THE MILITARY *
The Beat Goes On
by Jim Lewis
As some people waved Bibles over their heads
and shouted "amen," one questioner denounced what he
said was a lessening of moral standards in American
Society.
"Is being old a sin?' asked the citizen, who did
not identify himself.
"No!" the crowd yelled back.
"Is being handicapped a sin?" the man asked.
"No!" the crowd screamed, louder this time.
"Is being homosexual a sin?" he came back.
"Yes!" roared the crowd, loudest of all.
March 25 - "New York Times" article describing a
forum held in Jacksonville, N.C. The subject was gays
in the military.
The matter of lifting the ban on gays in the
military is heating up. Just how hot this struggle really
is was driven home to me after reading copies of the
"Marine Corps Gazette" (MCG), the professional
journal of the U.S. Marine Corps.
William Lind, Director of the Center for
Cultural Conservation of the Free Congress
Foundation, writes in the March issue of the MCG:
"Allowing homosexuals to serve in the military is part of
a larger, hidden agenda, one that is dangerous to the
whole of American society and culture."
The "hidden agenda" for Lind is "the destruction
of traditional Western, Judeo-Christian culture, morals,
and values." In a November 1992 MCG article, Lind
identifies feminism as "an element in the coalition" of
forces out to destroy Western, Judeo-Christian culture.
And just how will Marines react to this battle?
"Marines will opt," he says, "for massive passive
resistance -- resistance that makes the open homosexual
an 'unperson' (the homosexual who remains 'in the
closet' is not an issue since nobody knows he is one).
The more organized the passive resistance, the more
likely it will include too many people to overcome.
There is strength in numbers: No administration can
maintain a policy when the vast majority of those
affected by it reject it.
The fact that "passive resistance," on the part of
the military, is but one bullet in the chamber of this gun
being used to kill Clinton's proposed plan to lift the ban
on gays is best seen in the frontal attack being used by
the military.
Marine Corps commandant, General Carl
Mundy Jr., has been circulating a 20-minute videotape,
"The Gay Agenda" to Marine bases throughout the
country to be shown to all the troops. Produced by a
fundamentalist church in California, Antelope Valley
Springs of Life Ministries, it features nudity, and
assertions that homosexuality is unnatural, a sickness
and not worthy of legal protection.
This California church, by the way, uses armed
security guards who patrol the aisles during services,
along with electronically locked doors.
In the January issue of the MCG, Major Arthur
J. Corbett likens the gay effort to the vandal who took a
hammer to the Pieta a few years ago. His message is
simple: The Marine Corps should disband rather than
admit gays.
For those with eyes to see and ears to hear the
mood and terms of this struggle are pretty clear.
@ There is a concerted campaign to defeat an effort to
left the ban on gays in the military. It is a crusade based
in fear, appealing to every stereotype and distorted
image associated with gays.
@ This struggle over the military is the most visible
place to observe all the issues surrounding gay
liberation in our society. Gay military folk have come
front and center to articulate and personify the issue.
Hollywood, despite the liberal image, isn't doing it. The
test: How many openly gay actors can you identify. As
for the church, supposedly engaging the issue: Not one
bishop in the Episcopal Church has come out of the
closet, and very few gay priests and lay people are
willing to be out and open.
@ When all is said and done, these fearful, angry
military voices are on to something -- something
radically different is going on here. Keeping in mind
that the word radical is defined as "going to the root of
the origin," this struggle is one among many that address
racial, class, sexual and power issues. An old way of life
is dying and a new way of life is being born and the
generals and scout leaders of the world, not to mention
some politicians and church people, understand this
movement only too well.
@ The military opposition centers around "the
military's ability to fulfill its mission of fighting and
winning wars." In other words, can men and women
who love their comrades enough to lay down their lives
for one another maintain that intimacy given the
possibility of romantic love and sexual attraction? This
is a huge issue and takes all of us to the key matter of
spirituality and eroticism, the likes of which good
church folks need to discuss and understand as well.
@ Trying to closet and silence people, gays or anyone
else feeling the boot on their neck, just plain won't
work. Stuffing people and issues into boxes just
postpones justice.
From a faith perspective, self knowledge and revelation
of self is at the heart of God's revelation in and through
human beings. For a person to turn his or her back on
their sexual orientation is to block a deeply spiritual
connection. It is to hide God's very basic gift to us --
our sexual orientation -- under a basket -- in a closet, if
you will.
* Recently I heard Kathleen Carlin, a feminist
(sorry boys), speak to this matter. She said, "Oppression
relies for its continuation upon the silencing of the
oppressed. Silencing works this way. Part of the
dominant's self-identity is *not to hear* the
subordinate's reality. ln other words, part of what it
means to be male, or white or heterosexual, is to be
able to exclude from dominant reality the experience of
those who are oppressed by the social construction of
male and white and straight and have that be *right*.
Once again, from a faith perspective, listening to
God, who is present in the lives of those who have been
subordinated by the dominant political and cultural
interests of a society, is the very posture of faith. The
most important moments for Jesus were those in which
he paid attention to people who had been shoved to the
fringe of society and beaten down to the bottom of
society. Justice/love became known in those
encounters.
The military, along with a host of other
institutions in our society, including the Church and the
Boy Scouts, is out of step with justice and it's time to get
squared away.
-----
The Rev. Jim Lewis has been Director for Christian
Social Ministries of the Diocese of North Carolina since
1987. He served as assistant lacrosse coach at the U.S.
Naval Academy while serving as curate at St. Anne's,
Anapolis. This appeared in Jim's April 4, 1993
newsletter: "Notes from under the Fig Tree."
*LETTERS TO PRESIDENT CLINTON*
A RETIRED CHAPLAIN ON GAYS IN THE
MILITARY
The Rev. Charles Dunlap Brown
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
April 20, 1993
President Bill Clinton
The White House
Dear President Clinton:
I am writing in support of ending the ban against
lesbian and gay people in the military of the United
States. We are one of only three countries in the
Western Alliance who ban homosexuals. The current
policy of discrimination denies able bodied men and
women the opportunity to serve our country and costs
taxpayers millions of dollars each year. I agree that the
cause of discipline and discharge from military-service
should be conduct and job performance and not status
which judges a person because of what they "might" do.
I retired from the United States Army Reserve
March 31, 1990 after serving almost 42 years in the
Army National Guard, the Army Reserve and extended
active duty. At the time of my retirement I was the
senior Colonel in the Army Reserve and was the Staff
Chaplain for the 77th USARCOM at Ft. Totten, New
York which is the largest Reserve Command in the
United States. I was responsible for the recruitment,
professional education and assignment of 43 unit
chaplains in the State of New York and northern New
Jersey. I was advisor to the Commanding General of
the 77th ARCOM in matters of morale, morals and
religion.
During the Korean conflict I was mobilized with
the 45th Infantry Division, Oklahoma Army National
Guard. I earned the Combat Medic Badge and Bronze
Star for meritorious service and was offered a
battlefield commission. I was a Platoon Sergeant
responsible for 75 Medical Corpsmen with an Infantry
Battalion. It was this experience which influenced my
going to Seminary instead of Medical School upon
being released from active duty. In all my years as an
enlisted man, medical service corps officer and
chaplain, I knew and counselled many gay and lesbian
soldiers as well as heterosexual soldiers. The only
sexual conduct unbecoming a soldier that occurred in
the various units to which I belonged was that of males
harassing females.
I was an enlisted person with an Infantry
Battalion in Korea when we were integrated with our
first black soldiers. We had heard the same arguments
then against having blacks in the Army as are being
used today against gays and lesbians. With good
leadership and teaching the Army made great progress
in solving racial discrimination. The same can be said
for the acceptance of female soldiers. With this same
good leadership gay and lesbian soldiers are accepted
today in many units. Gay and lesbian soldiers are not
asking for special rights, only those rights and freedoms
provided by our Constitution for all citizens. Witch
hunts should be stopped and all people should be
judged by their job performance and not their sexual
status or orientation.
In addition to being an Episcopal Priest, I have a
Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma in Counseling
Psychology. My professional education and experience
has made me realize that a person can no more change
their sexual orientation that they can change the color
of their skin.
When I retired, the Army awarded me the
Legion of Merit, which is the highest award that can be
given for meritorious service. Over the years I was also
awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service in a
combat setting, the Army Commendation Medal twice,
the Army Achievement Medal as well as the Good
Conduct Medal. Had the Army known my sexual
orientation I would have been given a dishonorable
discharge instead and not have been allowed to do the
good job for our country which I did for 41 years and 9
months.
Sincerely yours,
Charles H.D. Brown
Chaplain (COL) AUS Retired
PB SUPPORTS AN END TO THE MILITARY BAN
The Most Reverend Edmond L. Browning
Presiding Bishop, The Episcopal Church
February 5, 1993
The Honorable William Clinton
The White House
Dear Mr. President:
I write to commend you for your position on the
issue of ending discrimination against gay and lesbian
members of the Armed Services. We as a nation are
well served by your openness in addressing this difficult
issue, which is before all of our churches as well.
The current situation in our armed forces with
regard to gays and lesbians is most unfortunate. It is my
deep sense that we live in a time when we need to
honor the contributions of *all* men and women who
serve our country, regardless of sexual orientation. In
so doing, we will define in a better way who we are as a
nation.
At my request the Suffragan Bishop of the
Armed Forces has developed a means of assisting our
military chaplains as a change is contemplated. I have
attached for your information a copy of a letter to our
chaplains. [See page 20 for text of letter.] It is my hope
and expectation that they will be of service in a time of
transition.
In 1991 our General Convention initiated a study
on attitudes toward human sexuality that is now
underway around our church. Part of the outcome of
the study will be a heightened awareness of the thoughts
and opinions of one another, and a deepened
commitment to make creative decisions about difficult
issues in the midst of these differences. Also, our
General Convention is clearly on record in support of
upholding the full civil rights and equal protection
under the law of homosexual persons.
The struggles of our church around issues of
homosexuality have given me a pretty clear
understanding of some of the complex dynamics. It is in
light of this particular experience that I offer to be [of]
assistance to you in any possible way.
I know that change is difficult in the absence of
converted hearts. At the same time, I do believe this is
a justice issue and there is a real need to press on. I
much applaud your way of going forward. Please be in
touch with me if you believe there is merit in exploring
a way I might be of assistance.
I welcome this opportunity to let you know that
you, your family and the group of men and women who
will be part of your team are in my prayers. You have
been called to a responsibility few can imagine and an
opportunity most never have. In an abiding awareness
of both the responsibility and opportunity of your office
I will continue to hold you in my prayers.
I will share with you that I am enormously
strengthened knowing of the prayers for me of people
all around our church. You are also prayed for in every
service. I hope you find yourself similarly strengthened.
This letter comes with my blessings and my warm
personal greetings.
Faithfully yours,
Edmond L. Browning
[Presiding Bishop Browning's letter to Armed Forces
Chaplains in on page 20.]
*MORE ON LESGAYS IN THE MILITARY*
UCC LEADER TESTIFIES FOR END OF
MILITARY BAN
By James Solheim
Testifying for the church leaders before the
House Armed Services Committee in Washington, D.C.,
Dr. Paul Sherry, president of the United Church of
Christ (UCC), said, "While each of us would want to
speak out of our distinctive theological traditions, we
share a common conviction that the civil rights
guaranteed for all citizens should be guaranteed for gay
and lesbian persons as well."
Sherry said that the "moral fiber of our nation is
very much at stake" in the current debate. "Some would
argue that our society's very structure is being
undermined by gay and lesbian persons declaring their
orientation openly and demanding the civil rights
guaranteed to all other American citizens," he observed.
"We see it quite the opposite," he said in referring to
actions taken by the UCC and other churches.
The ban against gays and lesbians runs counter
to "the basic principles of our nation -- liberty and
justice for all," Sherry said. "To allow the military to
discriminate is morally intolerable and contrary to the
values that undergird our society."
MISCONDUCT NOT ORIENTATION
The sexual misconduct of military personnel, not
their sexual orientation, should be the issue, Sherry said.
"While the religious community and the nation are still
in the midst of a profound and difficult debate about
the moral character of various forms of sexual behavior,
there is growing conviction that sexual orientation, in
and of itself, is not an adequate or appropriate basis for
judging others, any more than is one's gender, race or
ethnic background."
Sherry praised military leaders who "have
demonstrated the capacity to lead our forces effectively
through transitions that have included racial integration
and the admission of women." He said that military
leaders "can be responsible for insuring that sexism,
racism and homophobia are not supported or condoned
in their units."
In challenging Sherry's testimony, Rep. Herb
Bateman (D-VA) said that "specially protected rights"
should not be legislated for "people who profess to be
homosexuals on the grounds that it is a civil liberty to
which they are entitled."
Sherry responded by arguing that gays and
lesbians do not seek special consideration. "People
simply want those rights which every citizen of this land
-- by virtue of birthright and by virtue of citizenship --
have a right to expect."
Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning has
joined leaders of other churches in calling for an end to
the ban on gays in the military. Other church leaders
endorsing Sherry's Congressional testimony represented
the National Council of Churches, the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America, the African Methodist
Episcopal Church, the Christian Church (Disciples of
Christ), the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan
Community Churches, the Unitarian Universalist
Fellowship, the Moravian Church in America, the
United Methodist Church, the American Baptist
Churches and the Union of American Hebrew
Congregations.
-----
James Solheim is Director of the Episcopal News
Service.
PB WRITES TO ARMED FORCES CHAPLAINS
The Most Reverend Edmond L. Browning
Presiding Bishop, The Episcopal Church
February 5, 1993
A letter for all Armed Forces Chaplains
Dear friends:
As various governmental agencies spend the next
six months studying the subject of the President's lifting
of the Department of Defense ban on gay and lesbian
persons serving in the Armed Forces, I have conferred
with Bishop Keyser as to how best the Episcopal Church
might respond to the strong probability of this policy
change. As we discussed the implications of lifting the
ban, I was impressed by the fact that many changes may
no doubt be taking place in your units.
With full awareness that it will demand your best
efforts I want you to be at the forefront in alleviating all
discriminatory practices and to continue to be pastorally
sensitive in the care of your people during this
particular transition. This six-month period of study
should be a significant time for you to teach those for
whom you are responsible. Please encourage others to
study the policy change with an open attitude regarding
the priority of carrying out the mission of the Armed
Forces in the defense of our nation. Above all, do all
you can to prevent verbally and physically hostile acts
from taking place.
At the recent meeting of the National
Conference on Ministry to the Armed Forces a
resolution was passed affirming "the right of Chaplains
to publicly discuss the position of their faith community
concerning the integration of homosexual persons into
the Armed Forces." To assist you in such dialogue I am
enclosing pertinent resolutions which have been passed
by the Episcopal Church in General Convention. Share
them with your people, and teach them the significance
of these resolutions.
Bishop Keyser has briefed me on the process
being developed to facilitate the participation of clergy
serving in federal agencies in the church-wide dialogue
on human sexuality as directed by the 1991 General
Convention's Resolution - A-104sa. With my full
concurrence he intends to insure that an important
portion of each dialogue will specifically deal with the
complex changes that will take place with the lifting of
the ban and your role as a chaplain to all persons in the
midst of these changes. Your role, as always, includes
teaching, preaching, counseling, advising, and healing.
The regional dialogues Bishop Keyser has planned will
help equip you to represent the Episcopal Church well
during this critical time. I commend that opportunity
for dialogue to you.
The world is changing in many ways, and this can
be frightening to many. As ministers of the gospel of
Jesus Christ, we can respond with the good news that he
is Lord and calls us to work for justice and peace
through the power fo the Holy Spirit. May our wise
counsel and Christ-centered pastoral care be an impetus
for our people to more fully "seek and serve Christ in all
persons, strive for justice and peace among all people,
and respect the dignity of every human being."
I continue to be inspired by your ministry to
Episcopalians in uniform and to your people of various
denominational affiliations and cultural backgrounds.
Please know that you are in my thoughts and prayers.
Faithfully yours,
Edmond L. Browning
********************
*AN EXCHANGE OF PLEASANTRIES*
Letter to the Editor: "The Living Church," March 14,
1993
IDEOLOGICAL TERRORISM
The board of Integrity dissociates itself from the
National Council of Churches' (NCC) vote which
refused observer status to the Universal Fellowship of
Metropolitan Community Churches, a predominantly
homosexual group ["TLC," Jan. 3].
It also calls for "the immediate replacement of
the Rev. William Norgren as ecumenical officer of the
Episcopal Church and the replacement of four other
members of the Episcopal delegation" who voted
against observer status. This comes from a group which
has now begun a new buzzword, "gentle," as a self-
description. It is a group which has terrorized
everybody, not only to give its members freedom of
democratic voice, but also a place to make decisions
(even if they offend others) while, at the same time,
withdrawing the same freedom from others.
When will we realize that the ideological
terrorism of Integrity, a despotic and ruthless segment
who simply want everything their own way and on their
own terms, is running the program of this church and
the rest of us who are paying the growing costs?
Fr. Norgren is entitled to opinion and vote, even
if it is contrary to Integrity's wishes.
Frankly, I don't care who goes to the NCC or
who observes, since I have never followed the fortunes
or misfortunes of the WCC. Both are too great a pain
for the church and have outlived their usefulness. But I
do wonder if, politically and in the church, we have
entered an era of despotism under the guise of
democracy. Certainly that is the way Integrity and its
friends seem to work.
(The Rt. Rev.) Terence Kelshaw, Bishop of the Rio
Grande
Letter to the Editor: "The Living Church," April 11,
1993
CASE OF PROJECTION
Methinks the bishop doth protest too much. For
Bishop Kelshaw to describe Integrity as "despotic" is a
case of projection. To be a despot implies having power
to misuse. Integrity has never had "power" in the
Episcopal Church comparable to that of any bishop.
Bishop Kelshaw attacks a straw man of his own
creation when he says that the church's ecumenical
officer has a right to vote contrary to the wishes of
Integrity. No one suggests otherwise. What our
national board protested was Fr. Norgren's voting
contrary to the mandate of the 1991 General
Convention to promote dialogue with lesbian and gay
Christians. Contrary to Bishop Kelshaw, Integrity
thinks the work of the National and World Councils of
Churches is important.
Unfortunately Bishop Kelshaw's letter is replete
with other factual inaccuracies. For example, Integrity
has never used "gentle" to describe itself. The use of
such a term to describe oneself would always be suspect.
Perhaps what is really wrong with the Episcopal
Church is the quality of the leadership in some of our
dioceses.
Edgar K. Byham, Director of Communications,
Integrity, Inc.
Letter to the Editor: "The Living Church," May 2, 1993
RAW ANGER
I have never seen such raw anger, such
dysfunctional hatefulness, or such naked self-
righteousness as in Bishop Kelshaw's letter. Integrity,
certainly, is a flawed organization as are the Episcopal
Church and the Diocese of the Rio Grande. However,
Integrity is not ACTUP. Can it be in any way pastoral
to call a Christian group despotic, ruthless and terrorist?
Why is a bishop saying such things? What would Jesus
say?
(The Rev.) Thomas W. Philips, Providence, R.I.
********************
*EAST TENNESSEE SYMPOSIUM TO EXPLORE
SEARCH FOR STRUCTURAL REFORM OF THE
EPISCOPAL CHURCH*
Based on an Episcopal News Service release
In recent years, members of the Episcopal
Church from the tiniest parishes to bishops and national
leaders have asked aloud what kind of structure is
needed for the challenges of the 21st century.
The question has been uttered by Episcopalians
of a variety of viewpoints and theological perspectives.
Whether the dialogue includes such terms as "long-
range planning" or "paradigm shift" or
"decentralization," there seems to be a crescendo of
voices asking if the Episcopal Church should make
some significant changes in its institutional life.
Just as the church's Executive Council has embarked on
a churchwide process to gather concerns from the
grassroots, a symposium in St. Louis this August may
serve to turn up the volume in the conversation about
church structure.
The August 12-15 symposium, "Shaping Our
Future: A
Grassroots Forum on Episcopal Structures," sponsored
by the Diocese of East Tennessee had hoped to bring
as many as 2,000 Episcopalians together to talk about
structural reform, though it appears the numbers will be
far smaller.
Some of the original motivation for the symposium
was sparked by two rectors from the Diocese of East
Tennessee, the Rev. Stephen Freeman and the Rev.
Peter Keese. Freeman and Keese offered a resolution
at the 1991 diocesan convention that called for
significant changes in the structure of the Episcopal
Church. Among other things, Freeman and Keese
called for the General Convention to meet once every
10 years, and for a diocesan bishop to serve as the
presiding bishop.
Although the proposal was not adopted by the
diocesan convention, it was referred to a committee for
further study. The committee, later known as the "East
Tennessee Initiative," initially proposed to convene a
small symposium of scholars and church leaders at the
University of the South in Sewanee, then suggested a
larger meeting in St. Louis.
Some skeptics of the upcoming symposium have
criticized it as an uncontrollable "shadow General
Convention." One observer said that it could well be a
"magnet for the discontented." Another suggested that
cool passions and calm heads would not necessarily
prevail in the "heat and humidity of an August in St.
Louis."
Bishop Robert Tharp of East Tennessee in a
telephone interview with ENS's Jeffrey Penn dismissed
such characterizations. "This is not an alternative to
General Convention nor a mini-General Convention. I
would disavow the whole thing if it turned into
something like that."
Tharp said that, although there would be some
plenary sessions at the meeting, "none of them would
resemble the House of Bishops or Deputies. There
will be no opportunity to debate in the plenary sessions.
I don't believe that any resolutions will come out of this
meeting."
To explore whether opposition to the inclusion
of lesgay persons has helped motivate or will play a role
in the symposium, Integrity will be represented by Dr.
Louie Crew.
*MUCH FUSS DOWN UNDER*
*FIRST "OPENLY" GAY ORDINAND IN
AUSTRALIAN CHURCH QUITS*
The first article below appeared in "The Australian
Magazine" prior to the Rev. David McAuliffe's decision
to leave the Anglican priesthood. Off-the-record
remarks by Archbishop Carnley, while visiting
Integrity/New York in May, suggest that parts of the
story may be innaccurate. The second article appeared
in "The Australian" (the Perth newpaper in which the
Magazine is a Sunday supplement) shortly after the
resignation.
*HONEST TO GOD*
Still divided over women priests, the Anglican Church is
now being urged to confront its other contentious
problem -- gay priests. The case of David McAuliffe
epitomises the forces, fears and theories at work.
By Janine Cohen
The Reverend David McAuliffe regularly gets
hate mail, despite the fact that he has devoted his life to
God. Most of it comes from members of his own
Church. They warn him that he is going to burn in hell
and that his soul will perish in the eternal flames. They
ask him to repent and give up his wicked ways.
McAuliffe believes his only sin is that, unlike
many other Anglican clergy, he has refused to lie about
his sexuality. He would rather be hated for something
he is than loved for something he is not. Seven months
ago, the tall, urbane 51-year-old was ordained the first
self-proclaimed homosexual in the Anglican Church in
Australia, an event that has propelled the Anglican
Church into yet another controversy -- one that many
think the Church is not ready to deal with, particularly
with the continuing divisions over the ordination of
women priests. For the moment, the Church has gone
to ground on the issue.
McAuliffe, who was told not to speak to the
media, agreed to talk to me only after finding himself in
what he considers an impossible position. His honesty
has come at a cost. He is now a priest without a parish
and on the verge of reconsidering his future with the
Church. "I am not going to sit around in limbo for the
rest of my life," he says, clearly frustrated. "I can do
other things." Since news of his ordination became
public, he has been shunned by his peers and left
jobless. "What the Church, and I mean the Church in its
totality, has to do is to just be honest for once and say
there are gay people in the Church, there have always
been gay people in the Church, and the Church and the
family has not fallen apart."
Western Australia's Archbishop Peter Carnley,
the man who defied many in his Church and ordained
the first women priests in Australia, ordained McAuliffe
last August, knowing he was homosexual. After all, he
had come from Perth's gay Resurrection Community
Church where for three years he had ministered openly
to many gays and lesbians. The church began with 12
people meeting in McAuliffe's lounge and grew to
about 250 members.
Many in the Anglican Church were angry that
there was no debate on the issue before McAuliffe was
ordained. The Archbishop was accused of not
consulting his flock and the fundamentalists were
furious. Liberal theologians argued that there have
always been homosexual clergy in the Church. The only
difference here was that the latest recruit had been
open about it.
The violent reaction to McAuliffe's ordination
caught even the Archbishop unprepared. Letters
poured in from disgusted Christians. The clergy was
divided. Some preached from the pulpit about the evils
of homosexuality while others said it was God's way.
Some simply remained tight-lipped, too confused to
counsel their congregation. Homosexual priests, who
had not made their sexuality known to their parish and
peers, started deadlocking the closets.
McAuliffe is pragmatic about the homophobia.
"I never take it personally because they don't know me
personally. Really what they are doing is just voicing
their own prejudices or their own feelings or their own
very consciously held beliefs." Part of his week is spent
replying to the "more rational" letters he receives
condemning his ordination. His critics cite passages
from the Bible supporting their stand and he writes
back quoting others. The irony is that when he was
considering entering the Anglican Church he took
counsel with a number of homosexual Anglican
ministers. They were all encouraging. Then the story
broke in the media and a public storm followed. "It has
been rather fascinating really," says McAuliffe. "I have
had no support at all from the Anglican clergy.
Through the whole crisis I had no support at all from
any of the gay priests in the Church. Absolutely
nothing. I am just stunned that these men can be so
cowardly."
McAuliffe is a stately man with heavy dark
eyebrows and a calming, well-modulated voice.
Extremely well-read, he is a moderate on most things,
although a self-confessed socialist on social issues.
While working as a Liberal Catholic priest in the mid-
eighties, his parishioners used to complain that his
sermons were too conservative. Many find him a
dichotomy. He has a striking intellect and a wry, earthy
sense of humour. His vocabulary is peppered with long
theological terms, although when the issue of
homosexuality is raised he uses some language that is
common only to the gay community and seems
incongruous coming from such a seemingly
conventional minister.
In a photograph taken at his ordination are his
85-year-old mother, his homosexual lover, a gay
Christian friend, the Archbishop and several bishops, all
of whom knew about the new priest's sexual
preferences. It was a lovely ceremony, he recalls, a
pleasant day. Everyone was hospitable. They all agreed
the new minister had a bright future. One of the clergy
present even invited him to assist him in his parish
duties until he was allocated his own. Then word got
out of the gay priest's ordination and the furore
erupted. McAuliffe heard nothing more. Since then, he
has not been invited to a single church to celebrate the
Eucharist. "It is unusual to know there is a priest
around on the loose and there are priests who go away
on holidays and you go and help out, but nothing.
Obviously they are too afraid to broach it."
McAuliffe estimates that almost 40 per cent of
the Anglican clergy in Perth are gay (a figure disputed
by some clergy and confirmed by others). It seems
some marry as a front while others live with their
partners and are known to the gay community.
McAuliffe says traditionally the bishops were aware that
they had ordained gay priests, but as the issue was never
discussed their sexuality had not been a problem.
"If I had gone through the training system as
most Anglican priests do, and not come in as an
ordained priest and having been known as a gay person,
then I would have slipped into a parish and become the
usual parish priest living a quiet life with a good salary."
Instead, he has been jobless for more than six months
and has received no financial support from the Church.
As he sees it, his only sin is that he refuses to lie
about being in a long-term monogamous relationship.
He believes vast numbers of Anglicans throughout the
history of the Church have been ministered to, married
by and buried by gay clergy. "Probably the people who
have written to me condemning [me] or condemning the
Archbishop for ordaining me, probably their rector is
gay," he says nonchalantly.
Some fundamentalists believe gay people have a
choice despite the fact that modern psychiatry disagrees.
Born-again Christians believe if gay people repent and
throw themselves on the mercy of God, they can cast
aside the demons that tempt them into this life.
McAuliffe says he knows from experience this is not
true. As a young man, he fought hard to suppress his
homosexual feelings. He led a devoted life and prayed
diligently, and when that failed he became engaged to a
young woman, but could not continue with the
engagement.
The stir over McAuliffe's ordination presented
Perth's Archbishop with a problem. He needed to find
a parish for his latest recruit, but which one? Last year,
he chose the trendy, middle-class Perth parish of
Subiaco. The congregation there had a history of
supporting progressive social-justice issues. They were
in the main modern and well-educated. They had a
woman priest on staff. But their reaction shocked the
Archbishop. The Subiaco flock went into a flap. What
would happen when the rector went away? Would
McAuliffe have to conduct the service. And what about
the altar boys? (McAuliffe points out that the
heterosexual parish priest was never considered a threat
to the altar girls.) After months of heated meetings,
which McAuliffe was not allowed to attend, the
parishioners decided to give their gay priest a trial. But
in the meantime, another problem had arisen.
In answer to growing criticism of his decision to
ordain a self-proclaimed homosexual, Archbishop
Carnley told the media that McAuliffe was celibate.
McAuliffe has had a live-in lover for two years. Until
this was cleared up, the new priest felt he could not
accept the Subiaco position. When McAuliffe
complained about the celibacy issue, the Archbishop
said he was given to understand that he was celibate.
"But you didn't ask me, did you?" McAuliffe complained
to his superior. "No, but you didn't tell me either," the
Archbishop replied. McAuliffe says the Church may
not have known he had a partner but that should have
been a natural assumption.
What really riles him is that as the controversy
over his ordination continued, the Church gave the
impression that he had given assurances he was
celibate. "I had not. I absolutely had not." His chief
concern was that people who knew his true position
would think him a hypocrite. "There has been this
perception in the community that I have turned my back
on the whole gay issue and walked away from it."
After the Archbishop's comments about his
alleged celibacy, members of the gay community called
him wanting to know why the lie. Suddenly, his
credibility was at stake and this was the main reason
that moved him to talk publicly. He wanted to set the
record right. He knows that as a non-celibate priest he
poses ethical problems for a Church that condemns sex
outside of marriage. "I think what is happening is the
Church is using a heterosexual -- a straight model -- and
imposing that on the gay community and you cannot do
that. What the Church has to do -- whether it is the
Anglican Church, the Roman Church or any other
Church -- is to theologise the thing right through, look
at all the scriptures and then come up with a model that
suits gay relationships. The Church is trying to crush
gay people into a model that doesn't fit."
McAuliffe only ever planned to stay three years
with the gay Resurrection Community Church.
Eventually, he wanted to return to a more orthodox
Church. He approached the Anglican Church which
was very responsive. "The sexuality issue came up but it
was basically laughed out of court," he says.
He has no doubt that Archbishop Carnley is
supportive of homosexual clergy in the Church from a
justice perspective but he doubts that he would ordain
another practising homosexual because of the anger in
the community and his own Church. Archbishop
Carnley, in the US until May, was unavailable for
comment, but his acting administrator, Bishop Brian
Kyme, says he is unaware of any plans the Archbishop
may have for McAuliffe and such decisions will have to
wait until his return. "The Church has been very
accepting in his [McAuliffe's] case and it is just
unfortunate that the planned appointment [to Subiaco]
didn't come off."
Kyme believes the issue of homosexuals and the
Church is becoming less contentious. "Today, the vast
majority of Church people accept that there are people
that have a homosexual orientation and that they ought
to be accepted as persons, and that it is not of their own
making. It is the way they are." However, he also
believes that certain "homosexual acts" are contrary to
what the Bible teaches. "I think the Church recognises
that some of the clergy have a homosexual orientation
and that is true across the population and we would
expect that to be true of the clergy, too. Now that is one
issue and the other issue is that most members of the
Church believe that certain sexual acts are prohibited in
the scripture so we draw a distinction between the
sexual orientation of the person and the things that they
do or don't do. So while we would not be happy to
condone certain homosexual acts, at the same time we
are ready to accept that some people have a
homosexual orientation."
This is where the issue gets cloudy for the
Church. Does this mean that in order to be accepted by
the Church, homosexual clergy should be celibate?
"Well certainly they either should be celibate ... but I am
sure there are cases where we don't probe into the
private behaviour of our clergy leaving it to them as a
matter of conscience," Kyme says. "There may well be
homosexual clergy who are not celibate and we are
unaware of it. But we don't make an issue of, aah ... we
don't interrogate prospective ordinands about their
sexual behaviour. We have never done that."
Kyme does "not believe for a moment"
McAuliffe's claim that as many as 40 per cent of
Anglican clergy are homosexual. "I am sure there are
some and I am sure I know who some of them are, but I
am not interested in going around asking the clergy
what their sexual orientation is."
The Anglican view of homosexuality and the
Church depends on whom you speak to. One of the
more liberal voices is Rev. Roger Sharr, director of the
Wollaston Anglican Theological College in WA, who
says there is nothing in the scriptures that says
homosexuality is a sin; there are mentions of
homosexuality that are not favourable in relationship to
promiscuity but the same is so of heterosexuality. It has
to be read on context. Some people believe the issue
means bad publicity for the Church, but his view is that
it has nothing to do with publicity. "It is what the truth
is which is far more important. Therefore the question
needs to be addressed." He says many clergy and
parishioners are uninformed about homosexuality.
"There is an automatic association with child molesting
and other things that really have nothing to do with the
debate at all."
For Rev. Greg Harvey, the chairperson of the Anglican
Social Responsibility Commission, the Church has been
ambivalent on the issue for centuries, and it is time to
develop a more open position on the matter. "If you get
hold of one of these fundamentalist clergy and you
speak to them about one of their friends who might be a
gay priest, of whom there are a very great number
around the place, they would say 'Look we really like
that guy, but we can't deal with the fact that he is a
homosexual.'" Harvey says a person's sexuality has not
bearing whatever on their ability to be a priest. "It is
clear that God calls homosexual people as well as non-
homosexual people. I certainly support the ordination
of people who are homosexual, but I do not believe that
priest's sexuality is the issue for his or her people."
Others disagree. Rev. Peter Brain, a rector of an
outlying Perth parish who unsuccessfully tried to put a
motion to the last WA synod indirectly condemning
homosexuality, was upset when he heard that McAuliffe
had been ordained. He immediately contacted the
Archbishop who, he says, assured him that the new
minister was celibate. The only way the Wanneroo
minister would accept the new priest was if he was no
longer a practising homosexual and did not condone
such a lifestyle for others. He says he knows of people
who have left the Church because of McAuliffe's
ordination.
Brain has been surprised at other clergy's claims
that there is a considerable number of gay clergy, as he
knows of only two. He believes practising homosexual
ministers should be asked to resign from the Church --
because being a practising homosexual and a Christian
is a total contradiction. And he maintains that a
homosexual can be "cured" if he or she turns to the
gospel. "My understanding is that there are some
[homosexuals] who are cured in the sense that no longer
do they practise and no longer do they experience the
actual temptation in terms of their orientation. With
good support from a caring congregation and with
God's help, although the orientation may well remain,
the grip over them gets less and less."
Last October, an Anglican commission was set
up to look at the theology of the human person and
incorporated in this will be the issue of homosexuality.
It is not expected to report for at least a year. Some of
its members are sympathetic to the issue of gay clergy,
others are not. One is Rev. John Yates, who runs a
group called "Genesis," which tries to save Christians
who are tempted by homosexual feelings. It started last
year and has five members, all from his congregation in
Leederville, an inner Perth suburb. Yates believes it is
possible for people with "homosexual feelings" (he
refuses to call any of his flock homosexuals) to be cured
by long-term spiritual psychotherapy. "It is something
we believe will happen but it takes time. There are
plenty of people in the Church who have homosexual
temptations or orientation and that is their disposition.
A disposition is not, in terms of Christian morals
theology, a sin. It is only when you act on it."
Yates says practising homosexuals cannot be
ordained. "Now according to the Archbishop, the man
[McAuliffe] has renounced open homosexual activity
and so is living a celibate life. In that case, there is
nothing extraordinary about that because there are
plenty of people in the ministry who have had problems
with drugs, with alcohol, with adultery ... you name it. If
he was practising, it would be entirely different."
He intends to submit a paper to the commission
detailing his views on how physical sexual intimacy
between two people of the same sex is impossible. He
believes poor nurturing is responsible for much of our
homosexuality, in particular emotional deprivation in
relationship to the same sex parent. His theory is that
men have been characteristically more distant as
parents and believes this explains why there are more
male homosexuals than lesbians.
Yates says he knows of a significant number of
homosexuals who have been attracted to the priesthood,
some of whom have been practising. He suspects they
are attracted to the Church because of the brightly
coloured vestments and the drama and colour of
sermons. "It is a hypothesis, but I think it is a hypothesis
that fits some of the homosexuals I have know."
There has never been an official Church position
on homosexuality, but Yates believes it will increasingly
be on the Church agenda. Even his colleagues, who do
not share his other views, agree with him on this point.
FIRST OPENLY GAY PRIEST QUITS CHURCH*
By Mark Irving
The Anglican Church's first self-proclaims
homosexual priest, [editor's note: first openly gay
ordinand, if McAuliffe's was that, has incorrectly been
transformed into first openly gay priest] the Reverend
David McAuliffe, has quit the church after a row with
the hierarchy over his sexual orientation.
Mr. McAuliffe's decision follows his public
denial in "The Australian" colour magazine earlier this
month of statements by the Archbishop of Perth, the
Most Reverend Peter Carnley, that he was celibate.
Mr. McAuliffe is not celibate. He has a long-
time partner -- something, he says, that many people in
the church knew about when he was ordained last
August.
"He (Archbishop Carnley) went out on his own
and said I was celibate and then went further and said:
'This man has given me assurances that he is celibate.'
But that never happened. I've never been asked to this
day ... whether I was celibate. I had the impression all
along the line that they didn't want to ask that
question," Mr. McAuliffe said.
Archbishop Carnley's "off-the-cuff" remarks, as
Mr. McAuliffe describes them, had placed him under
intolerable pressure -- both personally and from gay
friends who queried whether he had "sold out ... in
order to get a nice cosy rectory somewhere."
He had "hassled" for six months to get the record
set straight before he decided to go public in "The
Australian." Now he finds himself a reluctant
homosexual cause celebre in the church.
A former Catholic and leader of a gay church in
Perth, Mr. McAuliffe was ordained by Archbishop
Carnley (who also ordained the church's first women
priests).
He had been earmarked for a position in a
church at Subiaco, an inner suburb of Perth, until his
sexual orientation became an issue and church-goers
were misinformed about his celibacy.
"They had been sold the idea I was gay and
celibate," Mr. McAuliffe said. "I said in conscience I
couldn't accept the post because it would have been
giving the lie to everything I stood for."
Archbishop Carnley is now overseas lecturing
and the matter has been handled by Bishop Brian
Kyme, the assistant bishop of the Perth northern region.
Mr. McAuliffe's decision to quit the church
followed a meeting last Friday with Bishop Kyme. Two
days ago, he resigned his licence to officiate as a priest
and now faces an uncertain future as a "freelance"
priest.
Yesterday, Bishop Kyme published a statement
he had issued to all diocese clergy.
"Most of your will have seen the article in the
magazine supplement to 'The Australian' which raises
the whole question of the employment of priests with a
homosexual orientation," the statement reads.
"The bottom line is that parishes are not willing
to entertain the nomination of a priest who openly
acknowledges he is a sexually active homosexual with a
live-in partner."
Mr. McAuliffe said: "When I approached the
church (to join) I had no wish to rock the boat. All I
wanted to be was a fairly quiet priest with a parish.
"I realise there is not very much emancipation out there
at all, that the battle was hardly joined, let alone won."
Honesty, he said, had not paid off. Many other
priests in Perth (he claims the figure is as high as 40 per
cent) were gay, some living in rectories with their lovers.
********************
*TOPEKA PARISH GAY BASHED*
by Patricia Wainwright
On Sunday morning for more than a year,
members of St. David's Church, Topeka, Kan., have had
to walk by a group of pickets to enter their church.
Members of Westboro Baptist Church have stood on
the sidewalk outside the front door of St. David's,
proclaiming with placards and shouts their opinions of
homosexuals, their sympathizers, families, or friends.
The Rev. Fred Phelps, Sr., is pastor of Westboro
Baptist, a small independent church. According to
several sources in Topeka, Mr. Phelps is a disbarred
attorney whose activities stay carefully within the law.
His congregation consists largely of family members,
several of whom are also lawyers. Mr. Phelps and his
followers regularly picket in Gage Park, a popular site
of civic events and family gatherings, which they
perceive as an area of homosexual activity. St. David's
became a target of pickets after some church members
were part of an ecumenical group that countered Mr.
Phelps' activities with a "Sunday in the Park Without
Fred." The Rt. Rev. William Smalley, Bishop of
Kansas, said it was simply "a day in the park -- just be
there to reclaim the park for the community." The
people from St. David's were easily identifiable, wearing
"St. David's Deacons" shirts, which are worn at various
church activities.
"St. David's has always been a very active
parish ... which sees liturgy and mission as one," said
parishioner Winnie Crapson in a telephone
conversation. She agreed with the Rev. Robert Layne,
rector of St. David's, in feeling that the Westboro
activities affected not only St. David's but the entire
community.
Several Topekans interviewed described the
group's picketing of civic concerts, plays, and most
recently, funerals. Both Bishop Smalley and an
American Baptist pastor told of demonstrations outside
funeral homes where services were being held for
someone perceived to have died of AIDS. The group
has sent "certificates" to families of recently deceased
homosexuals, causing a brief arrest of Mr. Phelps on a
charge of defaming the dead. The AIDS memorial quilt
was the target of protest when it was on display at
Washburn University.
Fr. Layne described in a letter a typical Sunday
morning: "We have faced obscene and cruel signs, and
on many occasions individual parishioners have
received verbal assaults such as elderly female
parishioners being called 'sodomites,' or one of our
Oriental parishioners being called 'slant-eyed bastard,'
as well as my being called 'son of perdition' and
'antichrist rector.'"
People entering the church have not been
physically assaulted, but many feel threatened and have
begun avoiding the front door.
On Palm Sunday, St. David's and four other
churches held their traditional procession and blessing
of the palms. "We obtained a parade permit this year --
something we never did in previous years," said Alan
Fries, senior warden. For the last 25 years, the
procession has used the sidewalks which the Westboro
group now occupies. "They stayed out of the way," said
St. David's youth leader, Rita Hernault. "The protesters
were on three corners [of the intersection]. They
stepped off the sidewalk to let us pass. It was a
wonderful procession!"
Fr. Fries said the vestry supports Fr. Layne's
decision to stand up to the Westboro group. "There is
something wrong about having to scurry into your own
back door," he said. "The vast majority supported
taking a stand against hatred, vile language, and the
misuse of God's word." Members of the church have
been meeting to develop appropriate non-violent
responses. Fr. Layne's letter to TLC ["The Living
Church"] said, "We want our response to be Christian --
purposeful, powerful, peaceful, with perseverance. We
don't want to return hate for hate, or allow evil to
provoke us to violence."
The First Southern Baptist Church in Topeka
was picketed by members of Westboro Baptist for four
or five weeks. The Rev. Clark Johnson, pastor of First
Baptist, said one reason the picketers chose plays and
concerts, as well as his church was "that's where the
audience is. If you can't generate an audience, you go
where it is."
Neither Mr. Johnson nor the American Baptist
pastor supported Mr. Phelps' activities.
"He's a poor representation of the church ...
quick to jump on anyone in opposition," said the
American Baptist minister, who asked not to be
identified. He quoted a member of his congregation
who complained. "He *would* have to be a Baptist."
Mr. Johnson expressed regret that small group of
people preaching hate attract a large amount of
attention. "There are some 260-some churches in
Topeka who preach the gospel and love," he said. "They
don't get headlines."
Several people expressed the fear that the
community was becoming polarized around the issues of
Mr. Phelps and his targets. Awareness and compassion
for homosexuals may have increased as a result of the
verbal attacks seen as vicious and obscene.
FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHT
Mr. Phelps has "caused people to hate -- him --
who otherwise wouldn't," said Joe Sullivan, executive
editor of the Topeka "Capital-Journal" and a deacon at
St. David's. Even so, his newspaper has opposed
censorship of Mr. Phelps' message because "he has his
First Amendment right to do his thing." Deacon
Sullivan predicted violence as the situation becomes
more tense. While he admires Fr. Layne's courage and
agrees that "it's time somebody said Christians have a
responsibility to resist hate," he was somewhat worried
about the Palm Sunday plans. "Why risk
confrontation?" he said. "These are not benign
picketers. [There verbal abuse] wouldn't add to the
Palm Sunday experience."
The pickets carried their signs on Palm Sunday,
and "sang songs; they weren't shouting," said Ms.
Hernault. "We had one TV station, our own video
camera, and the police. They were pretty quiet." She
offered an explanation: "The protesters have always
claimed that others shouted hateful things at them. The
cameras would prove that's not true."
Deacon Sullivan also played devil's advocate in a
telephone conversation: "Fred Phelps has his
interpretation of the Bible. He sees his role as prophet;
his intent is to drive homosexuals out of the city. Who
are we to say he is not called by God to do what he's
doing? How many of the Old Testament prophets were
poster children?"
-----
This article first appeared in "The Living Church," April
25, 1993 and is reprinted with permission.
********************
*COMMISSION ON AIDS/HIV SURVEYING
CHURCH'S MINISTRIES*
Based on a report by the Episcopal News Service
The Episcopal Church's Joint Commission on
AIDS/HIV is sending out about 800 letters in an
attempt to assess the church's ministries in the first
decade of the epidemic. In preparation for its report to
the 1994 General Convention, "we want to know what
the people of the Episcopal Church want to see done....
We want to learn from your experiences with
HIV/AIDS. We want to know of your hopes and fears.
We want the larger view, the view that dares to dream
dreams and seek visions," said the letter, signed by
Bishop Douglas Theuner of New Hampshire, chair of
the commission. "As we live with people who know
suffering and for whom death is not a matter of
contemplation about a far-off time and place, but an
everyday reality, we have a sense of urgency about the
Gospel response to that. We need to know how the
membership of the Episcopal Church shares that
urgency and can help us to translate it into our lives,"
the letter said. The commission is seeking an answer to
one big question: "Through your work with others and
your own prayer life, what do you believe God is calling
the Episcopal Church to do in response to HIV and
AIDS by 1997? By 2001?" Responses can be sent to the
AIDS ministry office at the Episcopal Church Center in
New York.
********************
*EURRR OPPOSES MINNESOTA BISHOP-ELECT*
based in part on a release from the Episcopal News
Service
Episcopalians United for Revelation, Renewal
and Reformation (EURRR) is challenging the election
of the Rev. James Jelinek as Bishop of Minnesota
because of his support for equal access to the ordination
process for lesbians and gay men. John Winslow,
convener of the EURRR in Minnesota, said that his
organization has sent letters to 110 standing committees
in dioceses throughout the Church asking them to vote
against the ratification of Jelinek's election. A majority
standing committees must ratify the election in order
for Jelinek to be consecrated as a bishop. "This diocese
[Minnesota] is controlled by a very liberal element,"
Winslow said. "That's what I've been fighting. Here
you have a bishop who will violate a church resolution.
It makes a mockery of the church." Jelinek said that he
believes church laws do not prohibit the ordination of
noncelibate homosexuals. He maintains that "if a
person is going through the entire discernment process
and they appear to be a healthy, whole person, the
decision should not be made on the basis of their
sexuality alone. Bishop Robert Anderson of Minnesota
said he was "confident that the will of the lay people and
clergy of the Episcopal Church in Minnesota would be
upheld by the bishops and lay leaders of other dioceses
around the country. The larger church will not easily
set aside the will of the people of a diocese expressed in
a fair and open election," he said in a statement.
Jelinek, who is Rector of St. Aidan's Church in
San Francisco, said during the election process that as a
priest he has presided at several blessings of lesgay
relationships, but that he would not do so as a bishop
since that would be a "political" rather than a "pastoral"
act.
********************
*NEW DALLAS BISHOP SAYS HE'S OPEN, WE'LL
SEE*
from "The Dallas Morning News" March 6, 1993
by Daniel Cattau
When James M. Stanton officially becomes bishop of
the 36,000-member Episcopal Diocese of Dallas on
March 6, two bishops from opposite sides of the
theological spectrum will serve among five co-
consecrators. Bishop John-David Schofield of San
Joaquin, Calif., a member of the traditionalist Episcopal
Synod of America, opposes the ordination of women.
Bishop Frederick H. Borsch of Los Angeles, by contrast,
is known as one of the more liberal Episcopal bishops.
...
[Stanton] said he hasn't met yet with members of the
Episcopal Synod or with Integrity, a group of gay and
lesbian Episcopalians. "I have not met with people who
are part of any affiliated group," he said. "But my door
is open to all Episcopalians."
********************
*SUFFRAGAN BISHOP-ELECT IN VIRGINIA
ACCUSED OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT*
BY James Solheim
A month after he was elected suffragan bishop of
the Diocese of Virginia, the Rev. Canon Antoine
(Tony) Lamont Campbell has been accused of sexual
misconduct and the consent process has been put on
hold pending an investigation into the charges.
Campbell, who is canon missioner in the Diocese
of South Carolina in Charleston, would be the first
African American bishop in the 207-year-old Diocese of
Virginia and youngest member of the church's House of
Bishops.
Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning said in a
June 7 statement that he learned of the accusations
"made by an adult woman" in late May. "Canon
Campbell denies the truth of the accusations," Browning
said. "Canon Campbell agrees that the investigation
proceed and a prompt resolution be reached," he added.
In a letter to the diocese, Bishop Peter James
Lee of Virginia express his "great sorrow" and asked for
prayers for Campbell and his family "in these difficult
days." Campbell was one of two suffragan bishops
elected at a special convention on May 1. "Our diocese
exhibited great strength and energy in the election of
our two suffragan bishops-elect and that energy and
unity are still realities for which we can be thankful. As
the weeks unfold, we must trust these events will be
used for God's purposes," Lee concluded.
Campbell is former rector of Baskervill
Ministries in Pawleys Island, South Carolina. He is a
graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and served in the
U.S. Marine Corps before entering Yale Divinity
School, graduating in 1985. He and his wife Julia have
three children.
********************
* A NOT VERY PASTORAL LETTER*
[Editor's Note: This "Pastoral Letter" by the Bishop of
Georgia is important not because it recommends
excommunication for all sexually active lesbians and gay
men, but because the Rt. Rev. Harry W. Shipps is a
member of the committee charged with writing a
pastoral teaching for the entire Church on human
sexuality pursuant to resolution A-104sa of the 1991
General Convention. This letter was issued in March,
1993 and was read in all parishes in the Diocese of
Georgia.]
I write to define my position, and what I believe
to be that of the House of Bishops generally, concerning
human sexuality, with special attention regarding sexual
conduct of persons seeking ordination.
The Church includes persons of all sexual
persuasions amongst its members. It asks that
unmarried persons, heterosexual and homosexual, be
and remain celibate. It asks of married persons chastity.
There can be no marriage of same-sex persons or
blessing of their relationship.
Single heterosexual persons who are fornicators,
and married heterosexual persons who are adulterers
may not be ordained. Non-celibate homosexual persons
may not be ordained. (The fact that some bishops have
broken this rule of the Church, and the attendant
notoriety, demonstrates the explicitness of the rule.)
There is no disparity between heterosexual
misbehavior and homosexual misbehavior. There is no
more stringent behavioral check made of homosexual
persons than of heterosexual persons.
*Open and notorious sexual misbehavior by
either heterosexual persons or homosexual persons
should disallow reception of Holy Communion* (pg.
409 of the Book of Common Prayer). Heterosexual
persons living together before intended marriage fall
under this principle. This statement should answer the
question concerning the inclusivity of the Church and
also the naming of unacceptable conduct, particularly
for those persons seeking ordination, who would be
required to be "wholesome examples."
In pastoral terms, I explain it this way to either
heterosexual or homosexual persons: *Precept* (or
principle): The precept of the Church is outlined
above, and is a given. *Practice:* All mortals fall and
transgress. This does not alter the precept. *Pastoral:*
The pastor always counsels the sinner in the most
helpful and sensitive way possible, dealing with the
practice that is at variance with the principle and calling
for repentance and amendment of life.
********************
*BRITISH BISHOP ADMITS CHARGES, RESIGNS*
by Kim Byham
The Bishop of Gloucester, the Rt. Rev. Peter Ball, has
resigned after admitting gross indecency with a 17-year-
old man apparently interested in joining a monastic
order that the bishop had founded. [See "The Voice,"
Spring, 1993.]
The bishop decided to resign immediately after
police formally cautioned him, a legal step that is taken
only after a clear admission of guilt. Police did not file
charges.
"I regret, with great penitence and sorrow, the
circumstances that have led to this police caution," Ball,
61, said in a statement. Ball remains a bishop although
he has resigned his position as Bishop of Gloucester.
Under British law when a suspect is released
without charges, police can warn him that if he is later
investigated for another offense, the circumstances
relating to his first offense can be taken into account.
Gloucester police said Ball was cautioned for an
offense of "gross indecency," which means a sexual
offense that falls short of intercourse. Any homosexual
act involving a male under the age of 21 is illegal in
Britain.
Canon Andy Radford, the diocesan press
spokesman, said: "He decided, having admitted guilt,
that it would be inappropriate both for the church in
Gloucester and for the wider church if he were to
continue. The fact that he admitted guilt has been a
severe shock to the diocese and people are taking it
hard. But we must keep this in proportion. This is one
incident and should not be enough to negate 30 or 40
years of devoted pastoral work."
The Archbishop of Canterbury said: "Bishop
Peter is a highly gifted and original man who has
inspired many people to deepen their faith in Jesus
Christ. He has been much loved, both in his diocese
and in the wider church, including the House of
Bishops. His resignation is therefore a cause of great
sorrow."
********************
*HOMOPHOBIA DOESN'T JUST HURT GAY
PEOPLE - PART II*
STRAIGHT INTEGRITY MEMBER FIRED FOR
SUPPORTING EQUALITY
When Prof. June Stefensen Hagen wore a one
inch square "Support Gay Rights" button on her book
bag at Nyack College last fall she had little idea that it
would lead to the end of her job at the conservative,
evangelical school up the Hudson River from New York
City.
Most of the college's 560 undergraduates live in
dormitories on the wooded campus and have little to do
with the nearby town. They take a pledge not to smoke,
drink or dance.
But in the last five years, under its president, Rexford A.
Boda, Nyack College had become more diverse. It
began to attract more students from inner-city
neighborhoods, increasing its minority enrollment to 40
percent in the current academic year. In 1991, for the
first time, the campus radio station was allowed to play
nonreligious music.
In December, a student complained to the
president that Hagen was advocating tolerance of
homosexuality by wearing a button in support of gay
rights. After interviewing Professor Hagen and students
in her classes, Mr. Boda defended her at a chapel
service, saying she was trying only to make students
aware of attacks on homosexuals and of legal
discrimination against them.
Boda said that he had hired Hagen knowing that
she was a feminist and was likely to lead discussions on
current events in her classes. Before last year's
elections, Hagen found her students quarreling about
how the issue of civil rights for gays and lesbians was
being handled during the presidential campaign. She
said she wore the button to stimulate that discussion but
that she also made it clear she personally supported
civil rights for everyone, including gays and lesbians.
Hagen is filing a complaint with the American
Association of University Professors. Prof. David Turk,
head of the college's English department, called Hagen
"a very fine teacher and a person of great integrity" and
was surprised when the contract was not renewed.
The case has attracted widespread media
attention, including articles in "The New York Times."
Dr. Hagen, who is an Integrity member, was anxious to
share some of her reaction to the events with us:
"Anyone's motivations for such action/speech as
mine are complicated. My motivations come from my
Christian commitment. In fact, one of my reasons for
speaking is that I am fed up with the religious right's
assumption that only they are moved by the Gospel.
"Every time the congregation reaffirms its own
Baptismal Covenant, the two last questions are: 'Will
you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your
neighbor as yourself? Will you strive for justice and
peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every
human being?'
"When I answer each time, 'I will, with God's
help,' I do mean that. And it seems to me that the
struggle for equal rights for lesbians and gay men is a
part of my working out of this Covenant.
"Another part of my motivation comes from this:
During the last three years my husband, the Rev. James
B. Hagen, Rector of the Church of the Redeemer,
Astoria, New York, has been an official nominee for
Bishop in three dioceses in this country: Los Angeles,
Chicago, and San Diego. From our visits nationwide we
realized that gay rights even within the Church are in
need of the support of those who might define
themselves as 'straight but not narrow!' We both speak
out on this issue.
"Finally, through the ministry to me of several
good friends who are lesbian, I have learned firsthand
of the constant threat of physical violence just because
of who one is -- or who one is presumed to be -- and the
subtle threats to one's vocation and free pursuit of the
usual happiness of an American citizen: housing, job,
free association, etc.
"Second only to my Christian commitment is my
commitment to the liberal arts education. I ma a 51-
year-old Ph.D., I've been teaching for 26 years, 17 of
those years in evangelical Christian liberal arts colleges.
Colleges give lip-service to the basic principles of free
discussion, 'the free play of the mind,' etc. I believe it is
my duty as an educator to help the institutions I serve to
grapple with ideas, including controversial ideas."
********************
*BISHOP PLUMMER CHARGED WITH SEXUAL
MISCONDUCT: THE CHURCH AND THE MEDIA
REACT*
THE PRESIDING BISHOP'S LETTER
May 26, 1993
To the members of the House of Bishops
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
I write to share with you a painful matter in the
life of our House and our church. I also want to ask
your prayers that we may approach these difficult
realities as God would have us do, and that healing will
proceed for all concerned.
More than two years ago the Rt. Rev. Steven T.
Plummer, bishop of Navajoland Area Mission since
March 1990, contacted me to tell me that he had
engaged in sexual activity with a male minor in a breach
of a trust relationship over a period of time ending
approximately four years ago.
I requested a thorough medical and
psychological evaluation of Bishop Plummer at a highly
respected medical institution. The evaluation indicated
that he was not "at risk" for repeating the behavior. He
has been undergoing therapy since that time and I have
continued to monitor the situation and to keep in touch
with Steven and Cathy.
At the time Bishop Plummer brought this matter to me
the young man was no longer a minor and unwilling to
pursue this any further. As is always the case in
instances of sexual misconduct, the protection of the
right to privacy of a victim is a primary consideration.
The healing of the young man continues to be of grave
concern to me.
This situation was discussed at a meeting on May
8, 1993 in Farmington, New Mexico of the Council,
Standing Committee and Staff of the Episcopal Church
in Navajoland. At the meeting, the Rev. Gary Sosa, a
deacon of Navajoland, made a statement that included
a report that some two years ago Bishop Plummer had
told him in confidence of the relationship with the
young man. Bishop Plummer made a brief response
and asked for prayers. He indicated that he is taking
responsibility for his healing, and that he believes God
has forgiven him.
After a two-week period for prayerful
consideration, the Council reconvened for a special
meeting at my request on May 22. The purpose of the
meeting was to review all of the information and to
discuss their recommendation to me concerning the
ministry of Bishop Plummer amongst the Navajo
people. Enclosed is a copy of a resolution they passed
unanimously. I commend the Council for moving to
consensus around a painful issue. The spirit of their
resolution and the compassion they have shown
indicates to me that a process of healing is beginning.
The recommendation of the Council has been
helpful to me as I have made some decisions concerning
the next steps. I note that in addition to my pastoral
concern for Steven and Cathy Plummer, their families,
the victim, and others most closely involved, also of
tremendous concern is our Indian ministry, and
specifically the ongoing ministry of the Episcopal
Church in Navajoland.
At my request Bishop Plummer has commenced
a one-year leave of absence during which time he has
agreed not to perform any priestly or episcopal
functions without my permission. He will continue in
closely monitored program of therapy. In addition, I
have asked the Rt. Rev. Stewart Zabriskie, who as
Bishop of Nevada is in a neighboring area, to serve as a
mentor for Steven and his family.
In the meantime, I have appointed the Rt. Rev.
William Wantland, Bishop of Eau Claire, who is the
senior active Native American bishop, as the Interim
Bishop of the Navajoland Area Mission. Bill has
graciously accepted this responsibility. I have also
conferred and will continue to be in consultation with
the Native American leadership of the church about the
ministry of Navajoland. Specifically, I have been in
consultation with the Episcopal Council of Indian
Ministries and asked their help in the evaluation both
long and short range of the mission and ministry of
Navajoland.
Prior to the end of the one-year period the situation will
be reviewed to determine most appropriate next steps
for Steven and his ministry, and for the ministry of
Navajoland. As the House of Bishops has ultimate
responsibility for the program and oversight of the
Navajoland Area Mission, I will then communicate with
the House concerning any actions that might be needed
as the 1994 General Convention.
In closing I again ask for your prayers. Let us
pray that the healing love of Christ will transform the
pain of this situation and that redemption can be found.
Faithfully yours,
The Most Rev. Edmond L. Browning
Presiding Bishop
RESOLUTION OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF
NAVAJOLAND
Whereas:
1) Our Bishop, Steven T. Plummer, has
acknowledged before this Council that he has been
guilty of certain misconduct in the past; and
2) We are all concerned about the victim and do
not approve of legal or illegal sexual misconduct; and
3) He has sought and received help in this matter
through Christian prayer, modern psychology and
traditional Navajo ways; and
4) We are convinced that his behavior is truly in
the past, that he has confessed his sin to the appropriate
people, and has done all in his power to make amends;
and
5) In the Navajo tradition, the past is left behind,
and our concern is with the present and the future; and
6) In the Christian tradition, we are called to be
a redeeming community; and
7) Steven T. Plummer is one of our own, called
by God and chosen by the Episcopal Church in
Navajoland to be our Bishop.
Now Therefore Be It Resolved That:
1) It is our desire that Steven T. Plummer
continue to be our Bishop.
2) Steven T. Plummer should be given an
indefinite leave of absence at the discretion of the
Presiding Bishop, beginning May 8, 1993, with full pay
and benefits and that during this leave of absence he
continue in therapy and do all other things reasonable
and necessary to care for his physical, mental and
spiritual health.
3) After the leave of absence and treatment,
Bishop Plummer consult with the Presiding Bishop to
determine if he should continue his duties as Bishop of
Navajoland.
4) This resolution should be sent to the Presiding
Bishop as our recommendation with the hope and
prayer that it be favorably considered by the Presiding
Bishop and the House of Bishops.
*Approved 20-0 at a meeting May 22, 1993 of the
Council, Standing Committee and Staff of the Episcopal
Church in Navajoland.*
THE PRESS REACTION
All of the articles below are highly edited to avoid
repetition.
"The Dallas Morning News," May 29, 1993
HEADLINE: *BISHOP PUT ON LEAVE AFTER
AFFAIR WITH BOY - EPISCOPAL CHURCH
LEARNED OF MATTER TWO YEARS AGO*
Religious News Service
The Rev. Gary Sosa, the deacon who went public
with the matter at a meeting in Farmington, N.M.,
charged church officials with trying to cover up Bishop
Plummer's sexual affair to protect the church's
reputation. Father (sic) Sosa has also accused Bishop
Plummer of harassing him sexually by making abusive
remarks.
Bishop Harold Hopkins, director of the church's
Office of Pastoral Development in Maine and a key
player in the matter, said the bishop has "on a number
of occasions" denied "categorically and emphatically"
that he made any inappropriate comments to Father
(sic) Sosa.
"Los Angeles Times," May 29, 1993
HEADLINE: *BISHOP PUT ON LEAVE AFTER
SEX REVELATION; EPISCOPAL LEADER ACTS
AGAINST THE PRELATE TWO YEARS AFTER
LEARNING OF THE MISCONDUCT WITH A
TEEN-AGE BOY. THE ISSUE IS FORCED BY AN
ANGRY DEACON'S ACTION*.
By LARRY B. STAMMER
The deacon, Gary Sosa, said the disciplinary
action was far overdue. "My feeling is that they buried
this," Sosa said Friday in a telephone interview from
Bluff, Utah. "If Steven had been a social service worker
or counselor or school teacher and engaged in this kind
of behavior he would not be working with people who
were at risk for his kind of behavior," Sosa said. In a
further twist to the story, Sosa has been suspended by
Plummer for breaking conditions of a self-imposed
leave.
Although Browning has acknowledged that he kept
Plummer's disclosure secret and allowed him to
continue functioning as a bishop, Browning said he
promptly requested a thorough medical and
psychological evaluation. The five-day evaluation
indicated, Browning said, that Plummer was not "at risk"
for repeating the behavior. Plummer has remained in
therapy since then.
Versions of how the church first learned of
Plummer's misconduct differ. Browning and Bishop
Harold Hopkins, director of the Office of Pastoral
Development, said Plummer reported the activity
himself. But Sosa said that Plummer went to Browning
two years ago only after Sosa first informed national
church authorities in March, 1991. The local church
council, however, was not informed until this month
when Sosa went to them directly.
Sosa said Plummer disclosed his sexual
encounters with the teen-age boy in November, 1990,
while they drove to a meeting. Later, Sosa said,
Plummer used "sexually loaded" language with him that
rekindled disturbing memories of Sosa's own sexual
victimization as a child.
Hopkins said Plummer categorically denied
Sosa's charge. Sosa, who is married, said he is on
voluntary leave of absence and re-evaluating whether to
seek ordination to the priesthood.
Sosa said he was later suspended from duties as
a deacon by Plummer, reportedly on grounds that Sosa
broke conditions of a his leave by reading the Gospel in
a church service without the bishop's permission.
Plummer, 49, was ordained a deacon in 1975
after graduating from the Church Divinity School of the
Pacific. The following year he was made a priest. He
was elevated to the episcopacy in March, 1990. He is
married and has four children.
"The Arizona Republic," June 4, 1993
HEADLINE: *NAVAJOS' EPISCOPAL SEX
SCANDAL; BISHOP'S AFFAIR CONTINUES TO
HAUNT INDIANS, CHURCH*
by Kim Sue Lia Perkes
Their pride was shattered May 26, when the
1,500 Episcopalians who make up the Navajoland Area
Mission, encompassing parts of Arizona, New Mexico
and Utah, learned that their beloved Bishop Steven
Plummer had a two-year affair with a teen-age boy.
Navajos dealing with the shock of the affair also
would come to find out that the national church
headquarters had known about the charges for two
years but had failed to take any ecclesiastical action
until Plummer's deacon, the Rev. Gary Sosa, went
public and forced the church's hand.
Sosa, who implied that Plummer also made passes at
him, said the bishop confided in him about the affair.
Sosa said he reported it to church officials immediately.
Church officials say they do not believe Plummer
made inappropriate remarks to Sosa. "Gary was injured
by Steven's remark, but we would not agree with him"
that they were suggestive, said Bishop Harold Hopkins.
"There are a lot of things in Gary's charge
(against Plummer) that we don't agree with," Hopkins
added. He declined to elaborate.
However, Sosa says that church officials advised
him to keep the affair a secret, and that the two years he
spent in silence devastated him spiritually and
emotionally. "At every point along the line, I was asked
to keep it a secret," Sosa said. "Plummer asked me to
keep it a secret, and then the national church asked me
to keep it a secret. It wasn't possible for me to work
with him (Plummer) after that."
Church officials admitted they saw no need to
make the affair public. They responded by sending
Plummer to Minnesota for an intensive psychological
evaluation that concluded he was not "at risk" of being a
repeat offender.
Sosa took a leave of absence from the church
and now says he probably will not pursue his
ecclesiastical calling to become an Episcopal priest - a
position he used to consider sacred. "Before, I had a
great deal of faith in the church," Sosa said. "I thought
they would do the right thing."
Plummer, who lives in Bluff, Utah, declined to
be interviewed beyond making the statement Thursday
that "the Navajo people and the church are all
supportive of me."
Hopkins, meanwhile, said it is difficult to decide
the right thing to do in cases of sexual-abuse allegations
involving clergy. "The problem was we really felt we
had no way of making the matter public without
violating the privacy wishes of the person involved," he
said. "We did not want to additionally victimize the
person injured. I can't tell you how many times we're
caught in that bind. When Gary Sosa, for his own
needs, decided to make it public, we had to shift gears
and make another form of attack."
The publicity has taken its toll on Plummer's
health. The week before his suspension, Plummer was
hospitalized for diabetic complications. After
addressing the council [on May 8] Plummer suffered
what he thought was a mild heart attack and was
hospitalized for observation and tests, Wantland said.
Sosa said he turned the matter over to police
authorities and family-service agencies, as well as the
church. However, the young man, who now is in his
early 20s, has not filed charges, Sosa said.
"The Phoenix Gazette," June 5, 1993
HEADLINE: *A SECRET ON THE
RESERVATION: AFTER ADMITTING TO THE
HEAD OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH THAT HE
HAD MOLESTED A TEENAGE BOY FOR
NEARLY TWO YEARS, NAVAJO BISHOP
STEVEN PLUMMER WAS GIVEN A
PSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATION AND,
EVENTUALLY, MINIMAL TREATMENT. NOT A
WORD WAS SAID PUBLICLY, AND PLUMMER
KEPT HIS POST. IT WOULD BE TWO YEARS
BEFORE THE SECRET WAS SPILLED BY A
CHURCH DEACON*.
by Ben Winton
When treatment did begin for Bishop Steven
Plummer, it consisted of twice-monthly visits with a
psychiatrist - far less treatment than what several
professionals said they would recommend initially for
child molesters.
Plummer had confided several years ago to Sosa
that he had engaged in sex with a teenage boy over a 1
1/2 to two-year period that ended in 1989. That
confession surfaced after Plummer learned that he had
something in common with Sosa - both had been victims
of sexual abuse as children.
But early this year, Sosa said he had become
concerned because he said Plummer had made
intimidating remarks of a sexual nature to him, that he
seemed to show no remorse for the molestations and
that the church had engaged in a cover-up.
"He's very compassionate, a strong leader for the
Navajo church," said Bishop Joseph Heistand, who led
the Diocese of Arizona until retiring last year. "It just
shows that all of us have feet of clay and we're all
sinners at some point in our lives. Nobody's immune."
Bishop Harold Hopkins said the church had
difficulty finding a psychiatrist who understood the
Navajo culture well enough to adequately assess and
treat Plummer. When it did find one, in Minnesota, the
psychiatrist recommended twice-monthly therapy
sessions.
********************
*GOD'S VULNERABILITY IN OUR SEXUAL
CHOICES*
by (the Rev. Canon) Gene Robinson
Think for a moment about your growing up and
the messages you received about sexuality. For most of
us, it will come as no surprise that we have a difficult
time with sexuality. At best, we were confused about it;
at worst, we were downright frightened. And indeed, I
believe that fear is precisely the message we were
meant to get: NOT that sexuality is a wonderful,
wonderful gift from God, meant for our joy and
pleasure, and a means of communication with a beloved
-- but, rather, that sexuality is a horrifying Pandora's box
that must be kept sealed up, lest the demons of desire
and passion come rushing out, like so many
uncontrollable banshees, to devour our hearts and souls.
My favorite of these crazy-making messages we
are given (first articulated for me by James Nelson) is
this: "Sex is dirty; save it for someone you love." We're
told that sex is this horrifying threat that must be tamed
and controlled. Indeed, we're taught, sometimes
explicitly, but mostly through dirty jokes and innuendo,
that sex is sinful and dirty and disgusting. Then,
somehow, in some magical and mysterious way, on our
wedding night, it is supposed to become this wonderful,
easy thing. How can this fact of life, this force inside us,
that has produced more guilt than anything else in our
growing up, suddenly become the joyful gift of God in
marriage? That kind of turnaround is crazy-making.
Now, in defense of parents everywhere --
including me, now faced with a 14-year-old daughter
who speaks and looks and acts about 22! -- I must say
that such a characterization of sexuality as a
beast-to-be-tamed, rather than a gift to be cherished
and enjoyed, comes from fear. I love both my daughters
very, very much. I don't want them to be hurt. I fear
that they will make themselves vulnerable to deep and
lasting pain. And because the potential for hurt is so
great in matters sexual, it is tempting to paint sexuality
with a frightening brush -- in hopes of scaring them off.
There is hardly a more vulnerable place to be
than in a sexual relationship. There is hardly a better
place to experience both the joys and dangers of
vulnerability. In few places is "love of self and love of
neighbor" more important. When I do AIDS education
and people ask whether or not I believe in abstinence
before or outside of marriage or a committed
relationship, I can say "you bet I do."
We need to talk to kids and 30-year-old singles
and 40- and 50-year-old divorcees about how vulnerable
lovemaking makes you. Not just vulnerable to
pregnancy and AIDS, but to damage to one's self-
esteem, disappointment, and feelings of incredible
loneliness in the midst of the most intimate physical
connection two people can have.
It seems to me that the vulnerability inherent in
God's own creation of the world and in God's
vulnerability in becoming flesh in Jesus Christ is a
central key in unlocking the power and meaning of
human sexuality. The spiritual and physical union
between two people mirrors the relationship God
desires with humankind. The longing of a husband for a
wife, a lover for the beloved, who has been away for a
few days or a few weeks, mirrors God's longing for us.
A lover's sheer delight in the body of the beloved
reflects God's sheer delight in us when we give our
attention and our love and our hearts back to God.
When one fully gives oneself to another in lovemaking,
it's a participation in the kind of self-giving love that
God IS.
If vulnerability is at the heart of the nature of
God, and if one of the ways we come close to God is
through the vulnerability we share in our intimate
sexual relations, what can we say about those
interactions? Are there standards by which we can
judge our intimate sexual relationships? Let me offer
three criteria: equality, authenticity and appropriate
vulnerability.
First, I believe that any healthy, moral
relationship which is sexually intimate requires equality
of the lovers. For me, sexual partners need to be on the
same footing for their sexual acts to be moral. Virtually
every sexual problem that has been brought to me as a
priest, most of the pain and discomfort and disease in
the sexual relationships I've counseled inside and
outside of marriage, has been related to this inequality.
Someone feels pushed too far, unable to say no;
someone feels powerless in the face of the partner;
someone feels like the entire responsibility for the
sexual relationship is on his/her shoulders.
At its worst, this inequality actually defines the
abuse and sexual misconduct we hear so much about.
At its root, child abuse is wrong because of the unequal
power held by virtually any adult over any child -- an
inequality of power, experience, perspective. Sexual
misconduct by clergy or professional counselors is
misconduct precisely because it is an inappropriate and
immoral use of the inherent inequality of the
counselor/counselee relationship. Rape is by definition
a circumstance of inequality. Incest is the manipulation
of someone through fear of physical or emotional
violence or the fear of the loss of an important family
relationship. The inequality of these settings indeed
defines the immorality.
Let me point out that while most of us are not
guilty of such gross immoralities of inequality, we
should not congratulate ourselves too quickly. The
overt and covert inequalities between men and women
in this society carry over into our relationships and
marriages, and until we are willing to look at that, we'll
never get very far in our discussions about wholesome
sexual relationships between equals.
I would maintain that authenticity is another way
of judging those relationships. By authenticity, I mean
that what we exhibit on the "outside" with our bodies is
reflective of what is going on "inside" with our spirits.
For Christian moral relationships of sexual intimacy,
there must be an integrating of one's life, so that the
"outward and physical" actions of sexuality become the
sacramental signs of an "inward and spiritual grace."
Finally, I would propose as a third criterion
Karen Lebacqz's notion of "appropriate vulnerability"
[in "Appropriate Vulnerability: A Sexual Ethic for
Singles," *The Christian Century*, 5/6/87]. This notion
builds upon the earlier standard of equality, and gives
us some direction with respect to specific levels of depth
in our sexual relationships. For a sexual relationship to
be healthy and moral, there must be a shared and equal
vulnerability. Each partner must be a willing
participant in the level of vulnerability that is chosen --
unmanipulated and unthreatened. In addition, Lebacqz
maintains that in order to be proper, "the level of sexual
expression should be commensurate with the level of
commitment in the relationship." In other words, you
don't have intercourse on the first date -- even if you are
equally vulnerable. It is simply crazy and dangerous to
make oneself so vulnerable to hurt in a relationship in
which no trustworthiness is present. "Appropriate
vulnerability" is a criteria by which to question intimate
sexual relations between very young people, between
casual acquaintances or for anyone *not* in a
relationship that includes a mutual commitment to love,
honor and trust the other and, in turn, to BE
trustworthy.
-----
Gene Robinson is Canon to the Ordinary for the
Diocese of New Hampshire and Executive Secretary of
Province I. He serves as a consultant to the committee
on the A104sa resolution of the 1991 General
Convention, which called the church "to work to
reconcile the discontinuity between this teaching [that
physical sexual expression is appropriate only within the
life-long monogamous union of husband and wife] and
the experience of many members of this body." This
article first appeared in the May 1993 issue of THE
WITNESS and is reprinted with permission.
********************
*SONGS FOR ONE OF OUR UNSUNG HEROES,
HELPING OHIO SING A NEW SONG*
The Rev. Ted Blumenstein, Rector of St. Paul's,
Marion, Ohio and a long-time Integrity member, was
named Citizen of the Year in Marion. During his 12
years in Marion, he has helped spearhead an
ecumenical feeding program, an emergency shelter for
the homeless, a job counseling center for the
unemployed, and an AIDS task force. Most recently he
helped start the Free Medical Clinic of Marion, in
response to the deep cuts in the state's General
Assistance program.
Ted is also chairing the Gay & Lesbian Clergy
Caucus in the Diocese of Ohio. Ohio has begun the
task of electing a new bishop and the caucus sent the
following to the Profile Committee
on March 23, 1993:
As Gay and Lesbian clergy in the diocese, this is
what we want from our next bishop:
1. Our bishop is a person who understands or is willing
to understand homophobia and can act pastorally and
politically based on that understanding.
a. Our homosexuality is not a cause for us to have
special pastoral needs. We have the same pastoral
needs as others and for the same reasons.
b. We have special problems because we live in a
homophobic society and church, and we must constantly
accommodate to it.
c. Internalized homophobia in gay and lesbian people is
widespread and can be very destructive. It is a factor in
much alcoholism and suicide.
d. Special pastoral concern is appropriate to those who
exhibit homophobia, just as it is to those with any
irrational fear. (To say it plainly: the hate mongers are
sick, not the homosexuals.)
2. Our bishop is a person who proclaims and teaches a
traditional Anglican view of Holy Scripture boldly and
fearlessly.
a. We are not literalists.
b. We do not apply ancient codes of behavior in present
day life.
c. We recognize that the sex negative attitudes of our
society are not found in either Hebrew or Greek
scripture unless we read them in.
d. Same sex loving relationships are affirmed in
scripture.
3. Our bishop recognizes and acknowledges our lives
and relationships.
a. The Blessing of Holy Union and the Burial of the
Dead have the same significance in our relationships as
they do with heterosexual life partners.
b. Events that include spouses can also include our life
partners.
4. Our bishop recognizes the responsibility of our
church to be an intelligent counter voice to the hysteria
and ignorance that emanates from churches and so-
called Christian leaders.
********************
*SHOULD INTEGRITY CHANGE HOW IT
ADDRESSES THE CLERGY?*
If you're a clerical member of Integrity, we'll
address you any way you want. Just let us know. Our
default, however, if you don't state a preference is
"Mother" and "Father." The Committee on the Status of
Women of the Executive Council of the Episcopal
Church has some very different suggestions. They are
charged with monitoring, investigating, advocating, and
recommending measures to promote the full
participation of women in the life of the Church and
their corollary well-being in society.
The Committee recommends eliminating
"Father" as a form of address for male priests, in order
to decrease the distinctions made between men and
women in ordained ministry.
The Committee notes that the most common terms
used for ordained women in places where ordained men
are called "Father" have been "Ms." and "Mother." "Ms."
is obviously not a parallel term, and the Committee
believes that "Mother" is not an appropriate equivalent
to "Father" because of the very different values and
roles assigned to male and female parents in our
culture.
The Committee also questions the
appropriateness of parental terms for ordained persons,
which imply that lay persons should assume a
dependent or childish role vis-a-vis clergy.
If the secular Mr./Ms. form of address is deemed
inadequate, the Committee recommends use of "the
Rev." (or the full "Reverend" when speaking) or
"Pastor," noting that grammatical objections to
"Reverend" reflect an upper class bias that is
denigrating to many of our Protestant sisters and
brothers.
The Committee recommends the following forms
of title and address:
.TB 6 35 61 86 101
Full title:
The Rev. John Doe The Rev. Jane Doe
The Rev. Mr. John Doe The Rev. Ms. Jane Doe
When speaking:
Hello, Mr. Doe Hello, Ms. Doe
Hello, Reverend Doe Hello, Reverend Doe
Hello, Pastor Doe Hello, Pastor Doe
Hello, John Hello, Jane
Salutation:
Dear Mr. Doe Dear Ms. Doe
Dear Rev. Doe Dear Rev. Doe
Dear Pastor Doe Dear Pastor Doe
Let us know whether you think Integrity should adopt
these proposals.
********************
.TB 6 16 21 26 31 36 41 46 51 56 61 66 71 76
*MEET AELRED OF RIEVAULX*
Challwood Studio has a new mascot. He's a Bichon
Frise and named Aelred. Aelred spends brief periods
in his dog house, which Paul and Victor have named
Rievaulx.
********************
*INTEGRITY PLAYS A MAJOR ROLE IN
COLORADO LOSING 1997 GENERAL
CONVENTION*
The General Convention of the Episcopal Church in
1997 will be in Philadelphia. Up until June, it appeared
that despite the controversial constitutional
Amendment 2 adopted by Colorado prohibiting civil
rights protection for lesbians and gay men in Colorado,
planners of the 1997 General Convention could not rule
it out of the list of possible sites for the meeting.
Denver, Orlando and Philadelphia were the
three cities approved for consideration at the 1991
General Convention in Phoenix. During a March
meeting of the church's Joint Standing Committee on
Planning and Arrangements (JSCPA), members of the
committee grappled with the issues surrounding
Denver. Some members of JSCPA expressed concern
that lesbian and gay Episcopalians might be subject to
discrimination if the convention were held in Denver.
The committee concluded that Denver should be
removed from consideration in 1997, but that the
church should be in dialogue with Colorado
Episcopalians about the issues involved in Amendment
2, and Denver might be considered for the convention
in 2000.
Almost as soon as the JSCPA had decided to
drop Denver from consideration, a series of new
developments emerged that lead the committee to
reconsider its decision.
In response to a lawsuit filed by a group of
Colorado residents and the cities of Denver, Aspen and
Boulder, a Denver district judge has placed an
injunction on Amendment 2, preventing state officials
from enacting it into law until after a full legal review --
expected by the end of 1993. In addition, attempts to
repeal the amendment are under way, leading some
observers to conclude that it may never become law.
"Because of this and other new developments, we
felt that we should at least look at Denver again," said
Pamela Chinnis, president of the Episcopal Church's
House of Deputies. "We are not under the same kind of
time pressure that we had with Phoenix."
In a March 24 memo to members of the JSCPA,
Chinnis and Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning
wrote that "a number of extenuating circumstances have
developed which might suggest that the committee
rethink its decision." They reported that practical
problems with two other sites have developed -- in
Philadelphia a snag has developed regarding available
hotel space, and in Orlando there is difficulty with
proposed dates for the convention.
Members of the JSCPA visited Denver in early
May. In large part because of the clear message of
Integrity, however, Denver remained "unacceptable."
The national board of Integrity adopted a resolution on
April 13 calling on "our national church and the
agencies and institutions which report to it to refrain
from scheduling General Convention, other meetings
or official activities in the State of Colorado until such
time as Amendment 2 is repealed or overturned."
BISHOP WAS OPPOSED TO AMENDMENT 2 BUT
CONVENTION WAS AMBIGUOUS
Prior to the vote on Amendment 2, Colorado
Bishop William Winterrowd publicly opposed its
adoption. In the October-November issue of the
Colorado Episcopalian, Winterrowd wrote that it was
"inappropriate to ban local ordinances that protect the
basic civil rights of any minority, including the rights of
the gay community." Citing the baptismal covenant and
resolutions of General Conventions, Winterrowd said
that his opposition to Amendment 2 was "founded on
my understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that all
people are children of God."
Winterrowd still rejects an argument by
supporters of Amendment 2 that it upholds equal rights
for homosexuals but prevents the state from recognizing
"special rights" for them. "Our understanding of justice
as Christians is to say that we feel compelled to protect
the human rights of all people -- especially of minority
persons," he said.
At its recent 106th annual convention, the
Diocese of Colorado adopted a resolution affirming
prior General Convention statements on the civil rights
of homosexuals. However, a call for a repeal of
Amendment 2 was withdrawn and the diocesan
convention passed a compromise resolution that
condemns "all discrimination in matters of civil rights
based upon whether persons are gay men, lesbians, or
bisexuals, and calls for such persons to be guaranteed
the full protection of the civil laws, urging Colorado
Episcopalians to make every effort in public and private
to insure that such equal protection in provided in
actuality."
Kim Byham, director of communication for
Integrity described the action by the Colorado diocesan
convention as "lukewarm." Byham noted that other
denominations in Colorado specifically opposed
Amendment 2 or have called for its repeal. He denied
the suggestion that there was a parallel between the
situation in Phoenix in 1991 and the current situation
with Denver. "In Arizona, the Episcopal diocese passed
a resolution supporting a Martin Luther King, Jr.,
holiday. In contrast, the 1993 diocesan convention did
not call for a repeal of Amendment 2," Byham said.
********************
*LESBIAN PROF HARASSED BY GENERAL
SEMINARY*
by Nick Dowen
Professor Deirdre J. Good has filed a complaint with
the City of New York Commission on Human Rights
against the General Theological Seminary, the
Episcopal Church's oldest seminary, alleging discrimi
nation in housing and employment on the basis of
sexual orientation and marital status. Dr. Good has
been ordered to vacate faculty houseing at the end of
her upcoming sabbatical for allegedly violating school
policy regarding cohabitation. She is professor of New
Testament at General where she has taught since 1985.
The seminary's Executive Committee took its action
expelling Good based on its interpretation of "The
Community Life Handbook," which states: "Persons
living together as couples in seminary housing must be
married as this is understood by the Church."
Prof. Good, who is a member of Integrity/New York, is
a lesbian and lives with her life partner.
Prof. Good's living arrangements were brought to the
attention of seminary officials in February. Although
the faculty subsequently advised that the housing policy
needed to be reconsidered, the seminary's dean since
May 1, the Rt. Rev. Craig Barry Anderson, former
Bishop of South Dakota, apparently decided to go along
with the Executive Committee. However, the
committee wanted Prof. Good to move out immediately
and Bishop Anderson persuaded them that she ought to
remain until January 1994, after a sabbatical.
The student/resident housing policy was written under
the previous Dean, the Very Rev. James C. Fenhagen,
who retired last year. There is no question that it
applies to students and ostensibly to non-seminary
renters, but there is doubt about its application to
faculty. The Faculty Bylaws make no mention of such a
policy. The Faculty Bylaws, passed in 1981 before Dean
Fenhagen's tenure, do state that the faculty member
must live (with family, where appropriate) in seminary
housing, and must not sublet. There are currently two
other faculty households in residence at the seminary
including persons not related by blood or marriage.
General Seminary is historically a residential
community. Faculty salaries express the fact that
housing is provided. The Executive Committee does
not propose to dismiss Prof. Good from the faculty (she
has tenure) but neither does it offer to increase her
salary to compensate for the deprivation of housing.
The City of New York Commission on Human Rights
offered to mediate this dispute, but the seminary
declined, anticipating legal proceedings. The New York
City Lesbian and Gay Rights Law, enacted in 1986,
specifically prohibits discrimination in housing and
employment based on sexual orientation. General
Seminary has for some years rented apartments to the
general public who have been required to subscribe to
"The Community Life Handbook" policy. The
complaint states that the GTS housing constitutes "a
housing accommodation as defined by the
Administrative Code of the City of New York."
It is hoped that the filing of legal papers will cause the
seminary to reconsider. Bishop Anderson is perceived
to be supportive of lesbian and gay issues based on his
votes at General Convention and at House of Bishops'
meetings.
-----
Nick Dowen is President of Integrity/New York.
********************
*AN AMAZING OPPORTUNITY*
An Integrity member recently visited Rievaulx Abbey
and purchased an original print of St Aelred's home
from a local artist. We thought many in Integrity might
be interested in having one of these *signed and
numbered prints* for themselves. We arranged with
the artist to do a special pressing just for Integrity and
we now offer them to you.
ONLY $25.00
plus $2.00 shipping.
Write: Integrity, P.O. Box 5202
New York, NY 10185
or phone 201-868-2485
Don't miss this opportunity. The picture, in browns and
blues, is extraordinary and will make a wonderful
Christmas gift for any Integrity member or Episcopalian
on your shopping list. And chapters should consider
this as a thank-you gift for those who have made special
contributions to Integrity.
********************
"Excellent Resource for Dialogue"
-- Bruce Garner, mbr. Comm. on Human Affairs
*A BOOK OF REVELATIONS*
Stories of 52 Lesgay Episcopalians
Now with a FREE Study Guide
Perfect for Parish Study
Individual copies $12 incl. shipping
Contact: Integrity, PO Box 5202
New York, NY 10185-0043
201-868-2485
Write or call for quantity discounts
********************
*ATTENTION INTEGRITY MEMBERS WITH A
COMPUTER AND A MODEM*
Tired of Being Fed to the Lions? Put away your
asbestoswear for awhile and come to a prayer-lit
electronic catacomb, *LUTI*. Join more than 100
persons daily sending e-mail to uphold the faith.
In the catacomb, God dares to love absolutely
everyone. You don't even have to speak or be known.
If you need to, you may sit in the corner and lick your
wounds.
Lo, everyone that thirsts, come, drink eternal water
which Jesus revealed at Samaritan wells!
For a guide away from the Coliseum down the
Appian Way, send e-mail with the SUBJECT: LUTI,
yes to
Dr. Louie Crew
or from CompuServe to:
>INTERNET:lcrew@andromeda.rutgers.edu
In this space we know one another not by
whether we are circumcized or uncircumcized, male or
female, straight or gay, pigmented privileged or
pigmented vulnerable ... but by whether we love one
another. Come, be the church with us.
********************
*WHAT DO WOMEN WANT?*
Well, we can't speak for all women everywhere, but we
can tell you what we want. We are Women for Social
Witness, a group of Episcopal Women committed to
seeking justice in the world through the work of the
Church, and Women for Social Witness want:
@ Justice in public policy.
.LM 16
.PM 11
@ An end to oppression in our homes, in our
Church and in the world.
@ A Church which welcomes and encourages the
ministries and leadership of women.
.LM 11
.PM 0
And here's what we're doing about it:
.LM 16
.PM 11
@ Preparing bi-monthly mailings on issues of
church and public policy affecting women, to
assist members of our grassroots network in their
advocacy work.
@ Gathering and preparing resources on violence
against women, sexual abuse, and sexual
harassment -- especially as they occur within the
Church.
@ Developing and implementing an advocacy
training program for grassroots women in the
Church.
@ Working to see that Women for Social Witness
is, and remains, a model of inclusiveness by
continuing to represent the rich variety of the
Church's women's groups and by maintaining
geographic, racial/ethnic, and cultural diversity.
.LM 11
.PM 0
To become part of the Women for Social
Witness Network, or to participate in any of its
activities write:
Women for Social Witness, Women in Mission &
Ministry,
815 Second Ave., New York, NY 10017 or cal
1-800-334-7626 x5346 (N.Y. State: 1-800-321-
2231)
*What About YOU? What Do YOU Want?
What are YOU Doing About It?*
********************
*PRESIDENT'S COLUMN*
I began composing this column thinking
that I was angry. Then I decided that I was, to
put it in the vernacular, pissed off. And finally, I
reached the conclusion that I was simply weary
and tired.
I'm tired of sharing the intimate details of
my life with strangers who often listen with a
lurid curiosity at what I "do," but fail to learn one
damned thing about who I *am* as a human
being, as a child of God.
I am wearied by those who cannot seem
to understand that when the Presiding Bishop
says "no outcasts," he means *NO* outcasts -
from any part of the theological or political
spectrum of our church. I'm weary of those who
cannot accept the Gospel entrenched fact that
the table of God is large enough to
accommodate the Episcopal Synod, EURRR,
the Prayer Book Society, Integrity, and everyone
else! It's God's table anyway, not ours. God can
make it as big as it needs to be.
I'm weary of reading about the
"homosexual agenda" and hearing those words
hurled at us with the dagger-like force of a filthy
epithet. The only agenda I'm aware of is simply
that of nudging the church into living the
inclusivity of the Gospel and our baptismal vows
with regard to its lesbian and gay members. That
"nudging" is not unlike what was required for the
church to include people of color, ethnic
minorities, and women, such as it does (or still
tries not to do).
I'm tired of bishops who accuse Integrity
of being terroristic in its actions and attitude,
while knowing nothing about us and refusing to
learn, refusing to see us as people striving to
follow the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm equally
tired of bishops who ride fences, fearful of taking
a stand because they might offend someone with
the inclusive truth of the Gospel. The real issue
is not "offending" anyone, it is discomfort with
being forced to deal with the fact that human
beings - bishops, priests, and deacons included -
are sexual creatures.
I'm tired of clergy-folk who will not
exercise the prophetic ministry to which they
pledged prayerful allegiance at their ordinations.
And I guess I'm tired of all of us who
conveniently forget the baptismal vows we took
and continually renew, the vows to respect the
dignity of every human being, to love our
neighbors as ourselves, even when we don't like
them very much.
The weight of my weariness and
frustration was lifted by a sermon preached by
the Associate Rector of my parish on the Fourth
Sunday in Lent. Martha Sterne preached on the
Gospel lesson, John 9:1-38, where Jesus restored
the sight of a blind man and got into all sorts of
hot water doing so. That sermon is the bulk of
my column and it follows. I am of the humble
opinion that it carries in it a message for every
single member of this church of ours:
*Grace to you and peace in the name of Jesus
Christ.*
I have been struggling the last couple of
weeks with a new pair of eye glasses, my first pair
of bifocals. Before, whenever I had my glasses
on the only thing I could see was what I was
reading. Standing up here, I didn't know what
you all were doing. You could have been
reading the funnies or playing cards or you all
could have slipped out the back and gone to the
Varsity for all I would have known. But NOW.
These bifocal things are not the end all
and be all of seeing. I can see up close - my
fingers and my words down here and what time it
is. And I can see you far off. Not the details of
course. Not the color of your eyes or the little
freckles you got in the sun last summer. All I can
see really, even with these bifocals, is enough of
you to guess at who you are. All I can see really
is my image, my guess of you. And then there is
a sort of middle ground where I can't see much
at all. A little out beyond me and my reach, but
not far enough away - right in the middle -I've
got a blind spot. And that's where I need one of
you to say "watch out. You're fixing to trip!" Or
I need one of you to say "Come quick. Come
closer. It's beautiful over here. You'll love it
over here. Come quick. Come and see."
So by myself, even with these things, I
can't see it all. I can't see all of you or all of me
either for that matter. And God knows I've got
some blind spots.
There is a man, blind from birth. And
Jesus comes. And in the endless power and
wisdom and light of his humility, Jesus spits in
the dirt, the humus, and makes mud. And heals
the man. And gives the man sight.
And what's so weird is nobody likes it.
Not really. Nobody rejoices. The neighbors say,
"What's going on here? This looks strange to us."
And they take him to the church. And the
preachers say, "We don't like the looks of this.
This looks suspicious. Did it on a holy day, did
he? How dare that guy spit and make mud or
whatever it was he did to you on a holy day?
And how dare you go and get healed? How dare
you break the rules? Well, we'll see about that."
And then the man's parents say, "This looks like
we could get into trouble. You're on your own,
boy."
Nobody likes it. This new sight among
them. And so they kick him out. And Jesus
walks out after him. And that's been happening
with regularity ever since.
It happens most every time somebody
sees new or sees different. We drive them out.
Away from us and away from God we suppose, if
we forget the end of this story. Because the end
of this story says one more time for the
umpteenth time in the scriptures of the church
that Jesus walks out the door of the church right
behind the driven out. Turns out that our God
doesn't take to driving people out. And it turns
out the way we see God isn't the only way to see
God at all. Every time we think we see the only
reality there is to see, what we will see eventually
is the back of Jesus' head walking out the door.
To be with people who don't think they can see it
all. To be with people who know that everybody
doesn't see the same.
I believe Jesus comes to places - to
communities of faith and homes and schools and
workplaces - where blind spots are
acknowledged. I believe the light of God comes
to the community of people who say to each
other, "Look what I see from over here. Yeah,
but look what I see from over here. And over
there and over there. Everybody telling each
other what they see and don't see, trying to
figure out what's going on and who and how and
what God is calling us to. Everybody's sight
counting. Nobody insisting we all see the same.
Because the people know that the only One who
sees it clear and sees it whole is the Holy One
who gathers us together - all us nearsighted,
farsighted, middlesighted, crosseyed,
blindspotted people - gathers all of us together to
care for each other and for the world. To keep
each other from tripping. To help each other
find what's beautiful and truthful and lifegiving.
Now I'm pretty good at picking up on
somebody thinking they
.UL ON
see it all and see it clear. I am sure that is what
is happening with that crazed man in the standoff
in Waco. And the murder of the doctor in
Florida by of all things a pro-life advocate. And
even the fractures in our own national church by
those who claim to see rather exclusively the will
of God. I believe violence and schism are always
evil, always evidence that the powers of darkness
are at work. And I get troubled and enraged by
self-righteous people whose values and theology
I deeply reject.
But unfortunately for me and any of you
who are right now thinking about how
closeminded or wrongheaded or pharisaical
somebody else is, unfortunately for us, God isn't
interested in us repenting anybody else's sins.
When I repent somebody else's sins, then it
always, always flips-turns upside down and inside
out. And my own rage and violence and self-
righteousness fill me and block the light of God.
And once again the darkness comes to the ones,
even me, even you, who think we can see it clear
and that it is only the others who are blind.
Now that does not mean that in living out
our faith with repentance and humility that God
calls us to sit silently by when people do evil.
The churches in Germany who sat in silence
during the holocaust were undeniably part of the
dark and the evil. But interestingly, the churches
who spoke out against Hitler and actively worked
for the overthrow of the Nazis, those churches
identified themselves as the "confessing
churches." Because they understood and
confessed and repented their own complicity in
the evils of the day. They confessed before and
all the while they moved against the Third Reich.
What I cannot see without help from
somebody who sees different from me is how I
am part of the dark. What I cannot see without
somebody who sees different is where I am blind.
I have no *in*sight without you. I will always
assume that it is the other people who are blind
and in the dark, causing the violence and the
schism. And I will always assume that things are
just the way I see them unless you are willing to
tell me you see something different. If you are
not there or not willing, I will be blind indeed.
In the community of faith we have got to
have those who see differently if we are to see at
all. We need restless eyes eager to let go and
move on and change the scenery. We need
careful eyes watching, wanting to hold on and
honor that which has been handed to us. We
need the eyes of octogenarians and children, the
singles and the married, the bean-counters and
the dreamers, the lonely, isolated and the over-
connected, over-committed. And we need the
eyes of the artists and the business people and
the straights with 2.2 children and the gays with
families formed out of the material at hand.
And we need the movers and shakers. And we
need those who just simply shake in the night.
We need eyes who see different from
each other. Because all of us - every single one
of us - all of us have too many blind spots to
make it through the days, much less the nights,
alone. And, too, all of us can see a piece of the
truth. A piece of the vision. All of us have eyes
that see what nobody else can see.
The man says all I know is this. Once I
was blind. Now I see. And they drive him out.
Because he sees different. Maybe he was
conservative and they are liberals. Maybe he's
left brain and they are right. Who knows. He
just sees different and tells them what he sees.
And they drive him away. And Jesus walks out
the door behind him.
Love God and love our neighbor. That's
all we must agree on. Jesus says everything else
hangs on that. However you see. And however I
see. And however we work at seeing more
clearly together.
"By the grace of God, with all of our eyes, we
will surely see the kingdom. Amen."
Martha P. Sterne, March 21,
1993
As long as *anyone*, including us as gay
and lesbian persons, is made an outcast and
driven from the church, I am certain that the one
who joins us in our exile, the one who follows us
out the door, will be none other than Jesus
Christ himself. And the path we tread will be
wet with his tears.
May those tears provide us all with the
mud needed to restore sight to the blind. And
may the restoration of sight let us all see the
glory of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Amen - again.
********************
*CHALLWOOD STUDIO*
Victor Challenor Paul Woodrum
Custom designed and made ...
EUCHARISTIC VESTMENTS
PREACHING GOWNS - STOLES
ALBS - SURPLICES - TIPPETS
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Phone: 718-398-2877
ANGLICAN CHOIR HABIT
*Challwood Surplice*: Neat pleats from yoke
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*Cape Style Hood*: Wool and silk. $150.
*Tippet*: 15" wide scarf style in wool or silk.
$85.
********************
*SHOULD WE SUPPORT THE ESA?*
THE EPISCOPAL SYNOD'S PROPOSED
GENERAL CONVENTION RESOLUTION
by Kim Byham, based on an Episcopal News
Service Release
At its governing board's annual meeting,
the Episcopal Synod of America (ESA) proposed
a to introduce a resolution on ordination at
General Convention which it hopes will be
defeated. Meeting April 29-May 1 in a suburb of
Philadelphia, the ESA said its members may
leave the church if the resolution it's presenting
is passed by next year's convention.
In an effort to force the Episcopal Church
to take a clear stand on the question of
ordination of women and perhaps of lesbians
and gay men as well, the ESA bishops will
present to the 1994 General Convention in
Indianapolis a resolution that "no person shall be
ordained to any of the three orders -- bishop,
priest or deacon -- unless that person accepts as
valid the ministry of all persons ordained in this
church."
If the resolution passes, the ESA said that
it will be regarded as a signal that the church
"wishes to exclude those who hold to the 2,000-
year tradition of ordaining only male
candidates." If the General Convention defeats
the resolution, "we understand that all
persecution of traditionalists will cease," the ESA
said. If the General Convention refuses to
consider the resolution, probably the most likely
action for a resolution not supported by its own
sponsors, "the ESA could only understand such
actions as a clear move to exclude its members"
from the Episcopal Church and it would take
appropriate action.